Foodie prestige with Veggie Awards

What do Stella McCartney and Leona Lewis have in common with Joss Stone and Amanda Holden? All of these famous ladies share a soft spot for good food that is full of flavour but free of meat. For them, and for all the other vegetarians out there, Cook Vegetarian! Magazine has decided to nominate and award the best vegetarian products on the market with the first ever Veggie Awards 2010. Eleni Sardi writes.

Celebrating flavour, versatility and innovation in the world of meat-free foods the magazine’s team undertook the rather appetising task of tasting a great number of products coming from the smallest producers to the biggest supermarkets. The result was a winner in each one of the ten unique categories selected with five other top-performing products or services each being awarded a Highly Commended accolade.
The winners include Fairtrade favourites Traidcraft and its Milk Chocolate Beanies which the veggie team awarded as the Best Veggie Sweet praising the original taste and Fairtrade status.

Nairn’s Oatcakes were also the winners for the Best Veggie Snack, a product which is stocked in all major supermarkets and health stores making it easily accessible to veggies all over the country.

Other winners include vegetarian and vegan approved Swedish Glace Ice Creams in the Best Dairy-Free category, the Granose Falafel Mix as the Best Vegan Product and the Weightwatchers Mushroom Stroganoff as the Best Veggie Ready Meal.
Editor Rachel Callen commented on the awards: “We were thrilled to see how many quality vegetarian products there are on the market – making a mockery of the perception that a diet without meat or fish needs to be boring or restrictive. It’s fantastic that this way of eating is no longer niche, and that companies of all sizes are creating genuinely enjoyable foods that enhance the diets of veggies and non-veggies alike. There’s no more ‘making do’ for people who want to eat meat-free!”
Cook Vegetarian! is the UK’s only monthly vegetarian cookery magazine, available nationwide in supermarkets, WHSmith stores and independents.