Vegan Chocolate & Animal Free Sweets
| BY NEAL ROTHSTEIN
One question we have been asked more frequently in recent years is: Can chocolate be vegan? The answer is a resounding yes! Better yet, in 2022 there is a huge variety of animal-free and vegan chocolate products available on the market today. One brand we’re really excited to feature here is Go Max Go.
All Go Max Go products are 100% vegan and made right here in the USA. Go Max Go set out to create delicious vegan chocolate bars that don’t contain any artificial ingredients. That means no artificial flavors, food coloring or preservatives. All of their vegan candy bars are non-GMO, and made without any trans-fats or hydrogenated oils. 9 out of their 10 candy bars are also certified gluten free.
With this kind of lineup, we believe more people will be open to trying out plant-based alternatives to their favorite chocolates. In the amazing world of vegan candy, there are now plenty of options for consumers to satisfy their sweet tooth!
Does vegan chocolate taste as good as traditional chocolates?
While a lot of chocolate products are made with dairy milk, many vegan chocolate makers have started using animal-friendly alternatives. These include chocolates made with almond, soy or rice milk in place of traditional dairy products.
These plant-based vegan options are not only great for people who follow a strictly vegan diet, but we can attest they are absolutely delicious! In fact, we guarantee you won’t even notice the missing animal products.
Take the Go Max Go Snap! bar with crisp and crunchy all-natural rice pieces, in a silky-smooth chocolatey coating. Seriously, this bar packs a punch! And with their signature recipe vegan chocolate made with rice milk, you’ll never miss the dairy at all.
What is vegan chocolate made out of?
Any chocolate that is made without any animal products can be considered vegan. A good rule of thumb when looking for vegan friendly products is to look at the ingredients list.
For instance, almost all dark chocolate bars are vegan, but again, this is not a 100% guarantee. It is always crucial to check the label for the list of ingredients. If you follow a strict vegan diet, then you are probably already familiar with this concept.
Some easy ways to tell if a candy bar is vegan or not:
Many dairy products can sneak into foods under a different name than just “milk”. If you see any of the following ingredients, then the product is probably not truly vegan:
- Lactose, Casein or Whey: These ingredients are all derivatives of animal’s milk.
- Cholesterol: Any amount greater than 0% means that there are animal products included. Cholesterol is only found in products that were derived from animals.
- Contains Milk: if this is included in the ingredients list, or in the allergen information statement, than these are most certainly animal-derived products.
While many of the dark chocolate bars on our website are made with dairy-free chocolate, many are produced in facilities where dairy products are also used. This makes cross-contamination a potential issue. This is why it’s crucial to always check those labels, especially for those with severe food allergies.
While it’s much easier to find vegan dark chocolate, vegan milk chocolate does exist, and it is phenomenal! The entire Go Max Go line of products uses a signature recipe rice milk for their chocolate. I just tried their Mahalo bar for the first time, and without any doubt, I can say it was absolutely delicious!
The Mahalo bar features vegan chocolate covered coconut and almonds, much like a traditional Almond Joy. I genuinely could not tell the difference in the taste or texture when comparing the plant-based chocolate to dairy milk chocolates. Actually, I can think of a few ways it was better!
Some other common milk-alternatives that can be used in chocolate making are almond, soy and oat milk.
The Hershey Company announced the launch of their first vegan chocolate products.
In February of 2021, the world’s largest chocolate brand, the Hershey Company announced that it would be expanding their “Better For You” program, which includes organic, sugar-free and plant-based chocolates.
At this time, they absolutely shocked the candy world with their introduction of organic Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. This was billed as the first organic product from a major chocolate brand. But they assured us at the time, that this was only the beginning.
In September, the company officially ventured into the plant-based chocolate market with their Oat Made Hershey’s Bars. The two flavors offered are the “Classic Dark” and “Extra Creamy Almond with Sea Salt”.
Unfortunately for now, both of these items are only available from a few select retailers, as they are still in the market research and development phase. Representatives from The Hershey Company said their formulas using oats would “deliver better on consumer’s expectations, than what is in the marketplace today.”
Regardless of whether or not these new products do well, it’s still very likely we’ll see even more plant-based chocolate products from more big-name manufacturers in the near future.
The plant-based chocolate market is poised for massive growth.
Hershey is just the latest chocolate brand to join in on the growing vegan market. According to one recent report, the annual growth of vegan chocolate sales is set to outpace the traditional chocolate market by the year 2027.
The data suggests that the projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of vegan chocolate will climb steadily by 12% from 2020 to 2027. At the same time, the traditional chocolate market share is only expected to grow 4.6% during the same period.
All of this is good news, both for candy stores and consumers who are looking for more plant-based alternatives to their favorite foods.
At Redstone Foods, we proudly offer a wide variety of up-and-coming and popular candy products from all over the world. This includes a growing offering of vegan, organic and sugar-free products. We have many different snack and gourmet offerings with an extensive selection of glass bottle craft sodas and energy drinks.
Our customer service department is second to none. If you ever need help deciding how much or even what to order for your store, our dedicated sales reps are always eager to help!
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