For the fifth year, the people have spoken and voted for their dairy-free favourites in the Vegan Society Dairy Free Awards.
Magnums remain a firm favourite with the public, along with Boring Oat milk, which has also been a previous winner. Kiwi icon Barkers came top in the new Toppings category with their delicious Butterscotch Caramel Topping. Any products available in Aotearoa were eligible for the award.
As product availability has increased and the number of amazing dairy alternatives is always increasing, two new categories were added this year: Spreads and Dips, such as cheese spreads, onion dips, chocolate spreads etc. and Toppings and Sauces, such as tasty cheesy sauces, creamy pasta sauces, chocolate dessert toppings etc., all of which are great for those with dairy allergies, as well as vegans.
The Society is pleased to see many newcomers into the competition this year and the range of dairy-free products continues to grow, with new milks, yoghurts and creams coming onto the market. Many products came very close, with only a few votes separating winners and runners up, a reminder to get voting next year!
“We are always delighted to see new dairy-free products on our supermarket shelves,” said Claire Insley, spokesperson for the Vegan Society. “The competition is always pretty fierce, and we love seeing people voting for their favourites. More people take part every year, both in voting and in terms of products, so these awards continue to grow and improve their value every year.”
Many consumers are choosing to go dairy free to help reduce their carbon footprint, as people become more aware of how what they eat affects the world around them. “For each litre of dairy milk produced, it has almost three times the carbon footprint of the next highest emitter, rice milk. Soy, Oat and almond milk have similar carbon footprints, rice and almond milk use very little land compared to dairy too. The water use of soy and oat is also very low, making these two the most environmentally friendly overall,” explains Insley.
After two weeks of frantic voting and no doubt some reminding of the delicious tastes to be found in the dairy alternative range, the results are in and the winners are:
Ice Cream
Winner: Magnum Dairy Free Almond
Runners Up: Wahiki Ltd Salted Caramel, Tip Top Vegan Boysenberry Trumpet, Duck Island Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
Butter
Winner: Vutter Original
Runners Up: Vutter Garlic and Avocado Spreadable
Dessert
Winner: Alpro Custard
Runner Up: Duck Island Ice Cream Cake Mango Passionfruit Sorbet
Yoghurt
Winner: Raglan Food Company Vanilla Bean
Runner Up: Raglan Food Company Greek Style
Milk
Winner: Boring Oat Milk
Runners Up: Vitasoy Original, Boring Oat Barista
Cream
Winner: Angel Food Sour Cream
Runners Up: Little Island Cashew Cream, Alpro Soy Single cream
Spreads and Dips
Winner: Biscoff Spread
Runner Up: Veesey Sweet Chilli Creamy Dip
Toppings and Sauces
Winner: Barkers Butterscotch Caramel Sauce
Runner Up: Nature’s Charm Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk
For more information about the awards check out the website www.vegansociety.org.nz/dairy-free-awards
