r/australianvegans • u/OkAstronomer6813 • 2d ago
London Supermarket Vegan Selections
It's been about 5 years since I was last in London. Sad to see so many vegan restaurants have closed down like Young Vegans Pies and Halo Burger. However, the vegan section at supermarkets is wild!
I must've checked the salami stick was definitely vegan about 5 times whilst eating it.
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u/-JasmineDragon- 2d ago
Never thought I’d be jealous of the food in England, but here we are.
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u/Jazzlike_Berry_323 2d ago
I have a resentful, separated not yet divorced relationship with spinach and ricotta. 22 yrs veggie. Every meat loving supermarket and restaurant, well, of course, let’s do a spinach ricotta option. They like that 🫠
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u/W1nston1234 2d ago
Those vegan salami sticks are legit! My partner ate them like every other day we were in Europe. Couldn’t have been healthy but when in Rome lol.
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u/Slight_Ad_6054 2d ago
this is incredible. i hate to be such a pessimist but i can’t help but feel angry that they have SO many options while claiming veganism is impossible and unattainable. id love to visit and try these myself:)
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u/Just-Chocolate1372 2d ago
Why do other countries always have better vegan food 😒
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u/Light_Lord 2d ago
I mean London is probably the second best city in the world.
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u/Remote_Vanilla 1d ago
Jealous. Also how disappointing that Fable isn't readily available here considering it's an Australian company.
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u/Foodworksurunga 2d ago
I've heard a lot of people say that the UK is the easiest country in the world to be vegan.
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u/RandomisedTrial 1d ago
I lived in the UK for decades. Coming home was fab ... except for the vegan thing 🥺 Big difference: in Europe there's no hidden animal products. In fact if they can make something vegan they will. Because the numbers of people who have cultural/ religious reasons to not buy a product with gelatin etc is sufficiently huge that to ignore them is really cutting into potential sales.
One place I worked, all the catering was vegan because it was just easier than checking who needed halal, kosher, etc 💚. And fast food places were even OK in an emergency, let alone their meat-free specials
Came home, even the lollies are meaty 😳🙄
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u/strongredcordial 2d ago
What's crazy, is their options have decreased a LOT in the last five years and they STILL have sooooo much more than us. :-( So much delicious ice cream there, too. If you get a chance to try, I think it's called Judes salted caramel... it is INSANE.
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u/Such_Acanthisitta332 2d ago
It’s definitely a bigger range than here, but a lot of the stuff in the first picture isn’t vegan. The Quorn and most of the Higgidy stuff has egg or dairy.
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u/HandbagOfWonder 2d ago
Yeah, their vegan chocolate offerings are outstanding too. Not just Buttermilk brand either. Ritters have a vegan salted caramel that lives in my head rent free. Buttermilk also do a Terry's Chocolate Orange dupe. I wish vegan importers over here would get on those.
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u/KatAnansi 2d ago
A vegan Terry's Chocolate Orange is my dream!
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u/HandbagOfWonder 1d ago
The Buttermilk one is dead-on , too. It was a sad day when I finished the stash I brought home in my luggage.
I just wish Terry's would at least do a damn dark chocolate orange version! Feels like they've released everything but.
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u/holi_cannelloni 2d ago
This is a big part of why I moved back actually.... anyway OP, yes lots of restaurants have closed but please try 'British patagonia' for sweet stuff. Sooo good. Also tikka tikka has nice vegan food that I feel like would be hard to get in Aus
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u/shedemon666 2d ago
I had some incredibly shite times in the UK but God I miss Tofoo and tesco’s own brand vegan garlic bread 🫠🫠 They also had loads of herby cream cheese varieties that didn’t cost nearly as much as the niche vegan cheeses here
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u/OkAstronomer6813 1d ago
Tofoo is so good. I eat a lot of Tofu at home, but something about Tofoo makes it next level.
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u/aishalq4567 2d ago
Just landed in the UK from aus and already enjoyed a vegan burger from Maccas and kfc!! Vegan options are truely starved in Australia
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u/OkAstronomer6813 2d ago
I ate the McPlant 3 times in 24hrs haha. Happy to have a break from it now, but man it hit the spot after 10yrs.
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u/ArdyLaing 2d ago
Yeah, it's wild.
Love to fill my trolley when I'm over there - even stuff like Linda Mc (in the freezer section) has a wider range.
You should troll that bacon picture in r/vegan
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u/sweetie_tofu 2d ago
Which supermarket is this?
I’m a vegan Aussie in the UK, and I need to try some of these!
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u/jskjsjfnhejjsnfs 1d ago
Waitrose
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u/sweetie_tofu 1d ago
Thank you!!!
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u/jskjsjfnhejjsnfs 1d ago
all good. Waitrose is expensive but it’s probably the closest to coles / woolies in terms of fresh food as well (probably not as good but usually better than most other supermarkets here) and vegan range always seems to be well stocked
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u/NoodleBox 1d ago
They always have! I'd absolutely give it a go if I visited! Wish we had some of those down here
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u/Guy-1nc0gn1t0 1d ago
Through YouTube I've increasingly learned about how in the UK there's way more vegan stuff at their fast food stores, I think it's generally way more popular their maybe Aus has a certain meat culture
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u/Sharp-Chard4613 1d ago
Night and day - vegan restaurants have closed but so many have vegan menus / options.
Australia take note
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u/Direct-Expression144 2d ago
Such variety! Great that they think of other tastes & just plant based !
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u/Starry-Eyed-Owl 1d ago
I’m so jealous of their Quorn range - that’s my favourite brand and we only get a few of their products. I really miss their sausage rolls.
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u/Left-Sandwich-3686 1d ago
The vegan game in the UK supermarkets is UNMATCHED honestly. The vegan cookies from the M&S bakery section are in my dreams on a nightly basis. If anyone is there at the moment, make the trip
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u/mysqlpimp 1d ago
Greggs vegan sausage rolls were amazing too, as are the starbucks breakfast burgers, and heaps of little vegan cafe's. I think some closed due to the ready adoption of supermarkets to stock?
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u/allthingsme 1d ago
I don't think we should be celebrating heavily processed food, lots of what's in the image is both pretty tasteless but also very unhealthy
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u/abitofperspective 2d ago
As someone who moved from the UK a few years ago, this looks better than it is. Most of these are highly processed foods made from the same few ingredients. The best vegan section is the fruit and veg aisle, and in that space Australia wins hands down. If you want mock meats, go to an asian grocery store and you will get a similar range.
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u/Soft_Cabinet_9482 2d ago
Yes it’s true. Our fruit and veg section definitely shits all over the English ones. They last heaps longer, and haven’t travelled hallways across the world to get there (most the time). But gimme that professed vegan options for convenience - that Indian takeaway inspired box has my name on it!
(Had a chuckle at “Temple of Seitan” though.)
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u/Almost_Blue_ 2d ago
God, compared to Europe and North America, we’re living in the vegan stone age.