Kev's Snack Reviews

I was quite intrigued when Doisy and Dam announced some new snack products for Veganuary recently, the dairy free, gluten free vegan Ballers, D&D’s and Buttons range that you can now find in Holland and Barrett stores (99p per 30g bag, £1.99 per 75g bag). There’s also some Dark Chocolate Vegan Mini Eggs joining the trio in time for Easter. Unfortunate names aside (Ballers? They must have seen the jokes coming with that one - I’m sure it’s not unintentional!), these are a great idea in theory as they’re meant to be like Free From versions of Maltesers and Smarties for vegans. But there’s a catch...they’re made with dark chocolate rather than a vegan “milk” alternative so are inherently a more marmite product to start with - not everyone is a fan of dark chocolate, and I imagine that doesn’t suddenly change if you’re vegan. And that’s why these products fail. Now personally I enjoy dark chocolate, especially the more flavoursome varieties, so I assumed I would like these. But ...

If you're into dairy free or vegan ice cream, good news, there's a new plant based alternative on the block: Coconuts Organic! Formerly called Coconuts Naturally they have rebranded and are now available in selected Tesco stores - do check out their website to see if they're available near you. You can find them in the Free From frozen food section for £5 a tub. This Choc Orange Swirl variety is described as "Organic, non-dairy chocolate orange ice cream, made with coconut cream, unrefined coconut sugar and laced with an indulgent chocolate sauce swirl". It contains no dairy, nuts or gluten and is free from major allergens. It's soil association certified organic and also approved by the vegan society. I couldn't wait to get this home to eat so cheekily ate some whilst in a Costa store right after buying it. There's a lovely orangey chocolate aroma on removing the lid. And the consistency is creamy, not too solid and was just beginning to get me...