One of the key parts of veganism is finding ways to replace well loved non-vegan food items with a vegan friendly alternative. For many people (myself included for the most part) they give up animal products for the ethical reasons rather than because they don’t enjoy the food. This can also be a reason why many people struggle with veganism when they first make the change as it can be hard to find vegan alternatives for some of your favourite comfort foods. Now for most meat alternatives, these are almost identical in flavour. But sweet treats can still be a bit hit and miss. There is a big degree of trial and error when it comes to vegan sweet treats as each brand will make their sweets or their chocolate in a different manner to each other so the taste, texture and overall enjoyment of a treat can vary wildly from brand to brand and even from product to product in the same brand.
I have heard amazing things about the brand Love Raw. They are however quite hard to find so I have never been able to try their famous cream wafer bar which I have been told is the perfect vegan match to a Kinder Bueno bar. However for my birthday I was treated to a sweet box from The Vegan Kind by my lovely co-workers, and this included a Love Raw cream wafer. So I was very excited to try this!
This is identical to a Kinder Beuno bar. There is no difference so far as I can tell. The wafer is light and delicate, the hazelnut cream in the middle is rich and creamy and the chocolate covering adds the perfect balance of sweet to the savoury hazelnuts. It is also a chocolate bar size, in that you get 2 sticks with 4 chunks to a stick. It is absolutely moreish and if it came any bigger my waistline may as well disappear all together. It is just…perfect.
As I got this as a gift I do not know exactly how much it cost. But I have seen it on sale from between 50p and £2.00 depending on where you look. For me, I will only spend around £1 for a chocolate bar as that is usually how much a non-vegan chocolate bar will cost and I refuse to pay that inflated vegan tax unnecessarily. So if you find this being sold for around £1, absolutely pick it up. But if you just want to try it and don’t want to have to shop around then I would highly recommend buying it ONCE for a higher price just so you can test if you really do enjoy it. But I do not think any chocolate bar should ever be more than £1…and if it is then it should at least be either a bigger size than your normal bar or so mind-blowingly delicious that the price inflation is justified.
Sometimes I think brands try too hard to reinvent food. While innovation is important, creating products to replace a non-vegan on the market is arguably more important. For many people going vegan can be quite an overwhelming task as you may fear that you have to give up all of the foods you love and basically try and create a whole new menu for yourself. But this Love Raw brand is proof that you don’t have to sacrifice your favourite treats in the name of veganism. I think more brands should follow suit and create vegan versions of already well established and favourited products so that it makes transitioning to a vegan diet and a vegan lifestyle far easier and far more enjoyable too.
Taylor Talks Vegan 