Just V Show 2016

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the Just V show, a free event that showcases vegetarian brands. It runs at Kensington Olympia in conjunction with the the Allergy & Free-From and the Love Natural Love You shows. With the heavy focus on vegetarian and allergen-free foods, there’s naturally a lot of vegan stuff! We attended last year and were impressed, so decided to go again.

Cocoafeliz chocolates / Vegenaise / Bute Island cheese tasting

There were a lot of brands exhibiting, but only a few really popped out to me. One that was particularly memorable was Cocoafeliz, who make gorgeous fancy truffles which would make the perfect gift for any chocolate lover.

There were also the same favourites, such as Plamil, Follow Your Heart, Linda McCartney and Amy’s Kitchen all giving out samples. Violife were there trialling a few new products, including a feta-style vegan cheese which was absolutely stunning. However, it won’t be available in the UK for a few months. More Than Meat were showing off their faux meat burgers, which tasted amazing but had been slightly overcooked!

Temple Of Seitan "chicken" tenders / Ms Cupcake Jaffa cupcake

The food on offer was absolutely amazing. We decided on getting “chicken” tenders from Temple Of Seitan, which blew me away. The batter perfectly replicated KFC, although the seitan itself was a little chewy. I also got a chocolate orange cupcake from Ms Cupcake, which was amazing as per usual.

Purchases: Cheese, wagon wheels and chocolate

In the end, I didn’t buy that much. I got three types of vegan cheese from Bute Island. I mainly got “Greek style” to tide me over until the Violife feta is released! The blue cheese is very good though, and I highly recommend it if you were once a fan of it’s distinct taste. I also grabbed two wagon wheels from Ananda Foods because my boyfriend loves them. Finally, I tried some chocolates from Fabulous Freefrom Factory, which I expected to be crunchy but were actually insanely chewy! But I fell in love with them, so decided to buy a packet.

So many freebies!

But we got absolutely showered with free things! Each person attending was given two free goodie bags and a carton of rice milk, and there were two of us so we ended up with two of everything. I’m not sure what I’ll do with all that Choc Shot! I was a little disappointed to find Dove body lotion and honey-roasted chickpeas in my goodie bags, as they went against the vegan/cruelty free theme of the show, but I can’t complain about free stuff and can easily give them away.

We were also given free drinks

All in all, I’d say the show was well worth a visit. I got to try some exciting new products and learn about brands making delicious vegan food. If you have the opportunity to get to next year’s show, I highly recommend it!

Have a wonderful day!!

Bethan