We have a few vegan meat brands in England, but it’s always good to look further afield, to see what’s happening in the wider world. It’s good to eat local, but sometimes brands abroad offer things not on sale here. Keep vegan meats away from pets, due to toxic ingredients like onion, garlic, mushrooms and jackfruit.
If we want to end factory-farming, then even non-veggie chefs like Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall say people have to eat mostly plants, there is not enough land for free-range meats, at the rate most people eat it. More than meat-free Mondays, we’re talking about 90% or so. This is what is happening elsewhere, with Germany now the most vegan-friendly country on earth, followed by Sweden, US and Canada (protein brands with no palm oil in sustainable packaging).
Many brands from abroad use alternative ingredients to soy like tempeh (a fermented bean from Indonesia), seitan (a ‘wheat meat’ popular in Buddhist cuisine) and jackfruit (an Asian fruit that strangely resembles meat when cooked). Peas and oats can also make meat -really!
Oumph! (Sweden) is also sold in UK stores, made with sustainable soy from the Danube region, rather than Amazon rainforests (if the ‘weather Gods’ play up, they still never buy from South America. The range includes mince, kebabs, sticky steaks and burgers.
Heura (Spain) is a funky young brand founded in the beautiful city of Barcelona. Sold in UK stores, these meats are made from legumes that are ground to a flour and mixed with water at different levels of heat, pressure and humity to resemble your favourites. Flavoured with Mediterranean spices and loaded with vitamin B12. The range includes ‘chicken’ chunks and nuggets, burgers, meatballs and sausages.
- Like Meat (Germany) was founded by the son of a meat company founder, who funded his journey, to become one of Europe’s best-selling meat alternatives. The range includes ‘chicken’ wings and nuggets, kebab and schnitzel (of course, in Germany!)
- Abbot’s Plant-Based Butcher (US) makes vegan meats in California from peas, veggies, herbs, spices, oils and vinegars. Named after the street in Venice where a 19th century conservationist began his journey to heal the planet. A portion of sales go to animal rescue. The range includes ground ‘beef’ mince’, slow-roasted chick’n and Spanish smoked ‘chorizo’.
- Planted (Switzerland) uses wet extrusion to turn plants into the fibreous elongated shape of animal muscle fibre proteins. So far the company has saved almost half a million chickens! You can visit the factory to discover how peas become ‘chicken’ and sunflowers become ‘pulled pork’. The range includes kebabs and schnitzels.
- Terra Vegane (Germany) is based in the world’s most vegan-friendly city of Berlin. This organic company makes vegan meats from beans, lentils, oats, soy and wheat (not for lupin allergies). The range includes burgers, steaks, sausages, ‘not-ham and not-beef steaks, salami, chorizo, deli slices and a winter roast.
- Gold & Green (Finland) makes plant proteins from Nordic oats (locally grown), peas and faba beans. Made in a similar way to bread, 68% of world oats are used to feed livestock animals, so this company instead uses oats to feed humans, and save cows! Store chilled (like the Nordic climate!) Also in a Mexican version for fajitas and tacos.
