Ingredients are sourced from small growers and cooperatives, and we always prioritise local suppliers
Locally sourced lupins and fair-trade cashew nuts
Lactose-free, gluten-free, cholesterol-free, thickener-free, preservative-free, colouring-free, with no added sugar or salt
Culinary creations with outstanding nutritional profiles
Discover the best place to buy semi-cured or spreads (vegan) if you do not eat cheese
Before beginning this article we would like to make an important statement. We have been accused by the public administration of confusing and misleading the consumer by using the expression VEGAN CHEESE. In fact, the legislator considers that as an “average consumer” your level of education and understanding is not sufficient to understand that the word VEGAN which used to be used to follow the word CHEESE every single time in our web means that we work with vegetable raw materials.
We'd be in a real bind if a consumer who wanted to buy cheese ended up buying our plant-based alternatives unintentionally, i.e. we'd have failed in our duty to inform and identify our product correctly. Since 2018 and the opening of our website, this has not happened once.
Obviously, these imputations have no other purpose than to serve a powerful lobby, which has placed politics at the service of economics.
So we'll have to wait a few more years before we can use “Vegan Cheese” on our website to describe what we produce.
As you can see, our products are plant-based...
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Now let's start: buying quality plant-based alternatives no longer has to be a detective job. In recent years, the choice has grown considerably and the options available have multiplied: made from cashew, tofu, coconut oil, lupins — the star of Veggie Karma — and so many others.
With so much choice, how do you choose the best vegan treats? And where is the best place to buy it, especially if you don't live in a big city? Buying vegan alternatives in Amsterdam or Munich is easy, but things get a little more complicated when you live in a smaller or remote place.
In this post, we tell you everything you need to know about how to find the best vegan alternatives to xxxxxx. The one that best suits your tastes, your values and your personal circumstances.
Where to buy vegan xxxxxx?
If you’ve started a vegan diet, or have decided to take better care of your health, or are lactose intolerant, gluten intolerant or maybe you simply want to introduce more plant-based food into your diet, you’ve probably asked yourself this question. At Veggie Karma we answer it in detail. Here are the best places to buy vegan xxxxxx:
Online
Buying xxxxxx substitutes online is a convenient way of sourcing your favourite products, where you’ll be able to find many types and varieties.
- Manufacturers’ own websites — there are around 200 manufacturers of vegan xxxxxx substitutes in Europe offering a variety of tasty and nutritional products.
If you've already discovered one you've fallen in love with, buying it directly from the manufacturer's website will allow you to show your support for the brand, helping it grow so that they can reach more and more people with their promotional campaigns.
- Vegan shops — Official Vegan Shop in France, Veggie Room in Spain, or Willicroft in the Netherlands are some of the online shops where you can find a multitude of plant-based foods. But there are many more.
Browsing through their pages of alternatives to traditional cheeses will give you an idea about the wide variety of options available. Cured and semi-cured, spreadable, melting, fresh, all have a vegetable alternative that is just as appetising and often healthier.
Although, as always, it’s recommended you take a good look at the nutritional content, since many retailers sell highly processed products that aren’t great for your health, despite them being plant-based.
- General supermarkets — most traditional supermarkets have products suitable for vegans listed on their websites, although their ranges are often quite limited.
- Lidl is the supermarket with the largest number of vegan options and, since the beginning of 2021, has championed its own brand, Vemondo. Among its alternatives you can find four flavours of sliced vegan xxxxxx, and various spreads.
- Auchan, Carrefour, Mercadona, Tesco, and all the major European chain stores offer plant-based xxxxxx. Violife and Sheeze are two of the more popular brands competing in this market.
- Interestingly, although Aldi has several plant-based products, xxxxx substitutes are not among them. At least not yet.
- Amazon — if you are looking for a carefully crafted artisan xxxxxx, this is perhaps not the best place to go looking. Amazon is almost entirely dominated by the Greek multinational, Violife, which sells vegetable-based alternatives that are high in saturated fats and have negligible protein content.
Brick and mortar shops
If you live in a big city, physical shops are great places to get your hands on delicious plant-based cheese alternatives.
- Vegan shops — of the three options, this is the one that will undoubtedly offer you the widest range of products. Here you’ll find artisan and organic cheeses substitutes, often with a gourmet twist.
- Herbalist shops — before vegan shops started to increase in number, one of the few places where you could buy plant-based cheese alternatives was in herbalist shops.
Nowadays, their ranges are limited compared to specialised shops. Even so, it’s worth discovering your local herbalist's shop to find out what kind of alternatives to cheese they have to offer.
- Traditional supermarkets — with a growing vegan market, supermarkets have seen cheese substitutes as profitable products to add to their ranges.
In general, vegan cheese substitutes available in Lidl, Tesco, Carrefour, and Auchan tend to be highly processed with poor nutritional value, but at more affordable prices.
If you’re looking for a vegan cheese substitute for pizza, pasta, or sandwiches, buying a supermarket product may be a cost-effective option worth considering. They certainly won’t excite your taste buds in the way an artisan cheese does, but they do the job just fine.
However, if you want to enjoy a good vegan cheese substitute board, you almost certainly won't find them here. (But you can here: link to VK's cheese board)
Buy vegan cheese substitutes in other places
If you can't find a shop in your area on our map, online shopping is the best option. Take some time to browse websites like Veggie Karma, Violife, and Vemondo, and read the nutritional values of each product. You’ll be surprised by the big differences.
Here are a few things you should consider when choosing a healthy cheese alternative:
* Fermented — cheese alternatives that have undergone a fermentation process contain probiotics and live microorganisms that are beneficial to our gut microbiota.
However, if the food has been pasteurised or sterilised after fermentation, this healthy bacteria and yeast will have been destroyed. This doesn’t mean product is unhealthy, but it does mean that some beneficial properties have been removed.
* Raw vegan products — these are products that have not been cooked in any way, that is, they have not been subjected to temperatures above 46ºC.
Because of this, they retain their nutrients and therefore provide a greater amount of vitamins and minerals.
* Main ingredients — as a general rule, if the main ingredients are nuts, legumes, or quality oils, it can be considered a healthy cheese.
On the other hand, you should be suspicious of ingredients such as starches, low-quality oils, and flours.
* Origin of ingredients — if you care about your health and the health of the planet, you should choose cheese substitutes made from organic ingredients, that is, ingredients that are natural, environmentally friendly, and contain no chemicals or additives.
* Nutritional values — look for alternatives to cheese that are low in salt and high in protein. Keep an eye out for the saturated fats, but don't obsess too much, because organic and unprocessed vegetable fats are a wholesome ally. If you want to know more about these fats, check out our article.