Another year, another fresh new set of winners of The VegNews Veggie Awards—the world’s largest survey of plant-based products, people, and places. This year, more than half a million votes were cast by VegNews readers to crown the best of the best, and we added exciting new categories you’ve been asking for—like Best Cream Cheese, Best Eggs, Best New Product, and much more. And despite turbulent economic times, a hunger for vegan alternatives is still going strong.
“Living a kinder, healthier, more climate-positive lifestyle has never been more important than it is now, and excitingly enough, a lot of progress in expanding this way of living is being made in non-vegan spaces,” says VegNews Editorial Director Richard Bowie. “It’s so important to support vegan businesses and organizations that are fighting for the animals. But incremental changes like vegan filet mignon at steakhouses and cultivated meat getting USDA approval are exposing another sect of people to the power of plants and technology. A future that breaks away from animal exploitation will rely on both sides.”
And indeed, iconic food brands like Reese’s, Boursin, and Nestle Toll House have all recently entered the vegan market with plant-based reimaginings of their staple products (with one taking home the gold for a brand-new Veggie Award category: Best Classic Gone Vegan). As more people are exposed to different ways of eating, dressing, and living, alternatives quietly become the default and compassion becomes more mainstream. By 2022, the US retail market for plant-based foods was worth $8 billion, and 60 percent of US households were purchasing plant-based food, according to the Good Food Institute.
This year, we’re celebrating even more of your favorite plant-based products, so get ready: it’s time to crown the 2024 winners.
Table of Contents
Best Milk: Oatly
As hard as the dairy industry may fight it, we just came off one of the most successful years for plant-based milks yet. And with a stock-boosting partnership with prolific ice cream chain Carvel upping its profile, Oatly is holding its position as king of them all.
1st Place: Oatly
2nd Place: Silk
3rd Place: Almond Breeze
Best Ice Cream: Ben & Jerry’s
An oat milk reformulation—plus the debut of a highly anticipated vegan strawberry cheesecake flavor—was enough to keep the Vermont ice cream makers at the top of your list for the fifth year.
1st Place: Ben & Jerry’s
2nd Place: So Delicious Dairy Free
3rd Place: Oatly
Best Staple Cheese: Violife
Melty, gooey, stretchy—and with fun innovative iterations like smoked gouda rounds and grillable halloumi blocks—it’s easy to see why Violife snagged top cheesy honors this year.
1st Place: Violife
2nd Place: Chao Creamery
3rd Place: Follow Your Heart
Best Artisanal Cheese: Miyoko’s Creamery
The creamy, cashew-based cheeses that first captured hearts in 2014 are still making their way to charcuterie boards—and the top of our list—10 years later.
1st Place: Miyoko’s Creamery
2nd Place: Kite Hill
3rd Place: Treeline Cheese
Best Cream Cheese: Kite Hill
Taking home the very first Veggie Award for Best Cream Cheese, Kite Hill’s luscious almond milk spreads (in fun flavors like everything bagel, strawberry, and garden veggie) are a vegan bagel lover’s dream come true.
1st Place: Kite Hill
2nd Place: Violife
3rd Place: Miyoko’s Creamery
Best Butter: Earth Balance
When you’re virtually everyone’s first introduction to vegan butter, it’s easy to keep a place in our hearts. Earth Balance’s buttery spread clinches this Veggie Award for a third straight year.
1st Place: Earth Balance
2nd Place: Miyoko’s Creamery
3rd Place: Country Crock
Best Creamer: Silk
Oatmeal cookie, crème brûlée, and even pumpkin spice. It’s all creamily and dreamily possible with Silk’s collection of almond, oat, and soy creamers.
1st Place: Silk
2nd Place: Califia Farms
3rd Place: Nutpods
Best Yogurt: Forager Project
Not only are their cashew milk yogurts all our parfaits ever dreamed of, but their drinkable smoothies and lunch-friendly kids’ pouches have helped earn Forager the first-ever pair of back-to-back awards for Best Vegan Yogurt.
1st Place: Forager Project
2nd Place: Silk
3rd Place: So Delicious Dairy Free
Best Eggs: Just Egg
The undisputed vegan egg champs at Just Egg don’t just have frozen meals, toaster-ready folded patties, and new larger-size paper cartons of liquid egg under their belt—they have the first Veggie Award for Best Vegan Eggs, too.
1st Place: Just Egg
2nd Place: Yo Egg
3rd Place: Crafty Counter
Best Burger: Beyond Meat
Whether hot and sizzling off the backyard grill or custom ordered from your nearest Carl’s Jr., Beyond Meat’s juicy, succulent Beyond Burger dominated this year’s polls—and we have no beef with that.
1st Place: Beyond Meat
2nd Place: Impossible Foods
3rd Place: Dr. Praeger’s
Best Chicken: Gardein
From the OG Seven Grain Crispy Tenders to the ultra-meaty, cayenne-spiked spicy patties, no one’s doing vegan chicken like Gardein, and it has yet another Veggie Award to prove it.
1st Place: Gardein
2nd Place: Impossible Foods
3rd Place: Daring Foods
Best Seafood: Gardein
Baja-style fish tacos with mango salsa or crispy crab cakes dolloped with tartar sauce? With Gardein, we can have both, and that’s why they win another Veggie Award.
1st Place: Gardein
2nd Place: Good Catch
3rd Place: Konscious Foods
Best Bacon: Lightlife
As the vegan bacon landscape shifts and changes (RIP, Sweet Earth and Hooray Foods strips), Lightlife’s crisp, gluten-based Smart Bacon made with a touch of smoked sugar has come out on top (of our breakfast platters).
1st Place: Lightlife
2nd Place: Upton’s Naturals
3rd Place: Tofurky
Best Deli Slices: Tofurky
Sandwiches have never been more delicious—or sustainable—and it’s all thanks to Tofurky’s cult-favorite meats. Pro tip: do like we do, and keep a stash of smoked ham, roasted turkey, and umami-rich roast beef for a big upgrade to the veggie sub from your local sandwich shop.
1st Place: Tofurky
2nd Place: Field Roast
3rd Place: Unreal Deli
Best Jerky: Louisville Vegan Jerky Co.
In an increasingly crowded category, Louisville Vegan Jerky Co. stands out with tempting flavors ranging from mustardy Carolina barbecue and sweet chili General Tso’s to small-batch exclusives like jalapeño-cheddar and Fly By Jing chili crisp.
1st Place: Louisville Vegan Jerky Co.
2nd Place: Beyond Meat
3rd Place: Primal Spirit
Best Condiment: Bragg Nutritional Yeast
Between truffle-infused hot sauces and the return of Just Mayo, vegans are spoiled for choice when it comes to condiments. But is it even a vegan pantry without Bragg’s golden, cheesy flakes?
1st Place: Bragg Nutritional Yeast
2nd Place: Follow Your Heart Vegenaise
3rd Place: Hellmann’s Vegan Dressing & Spread
Best Snack: Hippeas
Since 2018, these crunchy, airy, better-than-Cheetos puffs have had quite the hold on VegNews readers—and for good reason. Boldly flavored white cheddar, nacho, barbecue, and sriracha puffs have earned Hippeas its sixth consecutive Veggie Award.
1st Place: Hippeas
2nd Place: Boom Chicka Pop Popcorn
3rd Place: Vegan Rob’s Puffs
Best Chocolate: Endangered Species
Luscious vegan chocolate that supports wolf protection, sea turtle conservation, and forest restoration? That’s what we call a win-win! Now pass us a mixed berry oat milk chocolate bar.
1st Place: Endangered Species
2nd Place: Chocolove
3rd Place: Theo Chocolate
Best Candy: Justin’s Peanut Butter Cups
Reese’s may have debuted plant-based PB cups last year, but The Hershey Company’s reimagined treats didn’t stand a chance against Justin’s classic cups with peanut, almond, and cashew butters. Vegan OGs, rise up!
1st Place: Justin’s Peanut Butter Cups
2nd Place: Unreal Snacks Chocolate Gems
3rd Place: Sour Patch Kids Gummies
Best Dessert Brand: Abe’s & Sweet Loren’s (tie!)
Team Cookie or Team Muffin? VegNews readers couldn’t decide between Sweet Loren’s ready-to-bake cookie dough chunks and Abe’s vast array of allergen-friendly fluffy mini muffins, frosted cupcakes, and sprinkle-topped celebration cakes. Victory has never been sweeter.
1st Place: Abe’s & Sweet Loren’s (tie!)
2nd Place: Alternative Baking Co.
3rd Place: Rubicon Bakers
Best Classic Product Gone Vegan: Boursin
Nearly 67 years after this beloved cheese was first developed in France, Boursin’s master cheese makers recruited Follow Your Heart for a collaboration that’s even tastier than the original. Garlicky spreadable cheese infused with fragrant chives and parsley—without the cruelty? Yes, please!
1st Place: Boursin
2nd Place: Babybel Plant-Based Snack Cheese
3rd Place: Reese’s Plant-Based Peanut Butter Cups
Best New Product: Meati
Vegan grounds, nuggets, and patties will always have a place in our kitchens, but a new era of vegan meat is here, and Meati’s steaks and chicken cutlets (in new garlic pepper and Italian-seasoned flavors) are leading the charge.
1st Place: Meati Whole-Cut Steak and Chicken
2nd Place: Lindt Lindor Oatmilk Chocolate Truffles
3rd Place: Impossible Foods Beef Hot Dogs
Best Meal Delivery Service: Purple Carrot
For perpetually busy plant-eaters, quick and healthy vegan meals delivered straight to your doorstep have been a possibility since 2014 thanks to Purple Carrot’s heat-and-eat dishes like Pizza Beans with garlicky broccoli and DIY meals like Sweet Potato Flatbreads with roasted grapes and cashew cheese.
1st Place: Purple Carrot
2nd Place: Daily Harvest
3rd Place: Hungryroot
Best Grocery Store: Besties Vegan Paradise
They’ve got the best vegan soft serve in town (per the Los Angeles Times), they host a free weekly running club, and they accept EBT on top of offering all sorts of incredible vegan food finds. They’re not just a grocer—they’re our besties!
1st Place: Besties Vegan Paradise (Los Angeles, CA)
2nd Place: Food Fight! Grocery, (Portland, OR)
3rd Place: Orchard Grocer (New York, NY)
Best Online Grocery Store: Vegan Essentials
How do you rack up 11 Veggie Awards? By offering everything from the UK’s vegan Kit-Kats to caramelly stroopwafels to plant-based food for your dogs—just like Vegan Essentials does.
1st Place: Vegan Essentials
2nd Place: GTFO It’s Vegan
3rd Place: Besties Vegan Paradise
Best Vegan City: Los Angeles
From vegan classics like Shojin and Crossroads Kitchen to breakout newcomers like Hey, Sunshine Kitchen and Justine’s Wine Bar, the City of Angels continues to be heaven for plant-based foodies.
1st Place: Los Angeles
2nd Place: New York City
3rd Place: Portland
Favorite Celebrity: Joaquin Phoenix
He may be a man of few words, but when the elusive Joaquin Phoenix isn’t earning accolades for his immense talent, he’s consistently being an outspoken voice for the animals. And this is exactly why you’ve given him his third Veggie Award.
1st Place: Joaquin Phoenix
2nd Place: Tabitha Brown
3rd Place: Woody Harrelson
Favorite Tiktoker: Alexis Nikole Nelson, @alexisnikole
If hearing Alexis Nikole Nelson’s signature “Happy snacking, don’t die!” brightens your day like it does ours, then chances are you helped this James Beard Award-winning creator score yet another prestigious honor: her third Veggie Award.
1st Place: Alexis Nikole Nelson, @alexisnikole
2nd Place: Carleigh Bodrug, @plantyou
3rd Place: Todd Anderson, @turnipvegan
Favorite Instagrammer: John Lewis, @badassvegan
Between earning NAACP Image Award nominations, directing documentaries produced by Billie Eilish and Chris Paul, and launching his own healthy snack line—John Lewis somehow still finds time to provide daily motivation and laughter on our feeds, and we love him for it.
1st Place: John Lewis, @badassvegan
2nd Place: Danielle Brown, @healthygirlkitchen
3rd Place: Gaz Oakley, @gazoakley
Favorite YouTuber: Rose Lee, Cheap Lazy Vegan
Come for Rose Lee’s rice cooker recipes and tofu 101 videos, stay for all the hilarious and heartwarming journeys like her first-ever taste of Chipotle and first visit to her native South Korea (as a vegan!) in more than a decade.
1st Place: Rose Lee, Cheap Lazy Vegan
2nd Place: Ed Winters, Earthling Ed
3rd Place: Jenné Claiborne, Sweet Potato Soul
Favorite Vegan Athlete: Lewis Hamilton
From his own vegan restaurants to advocating for plant-based living to his 36 million followers on Instagram, Formula One race car driver Lewis Hamilton is not just talking the talk when it comes to ethics.
1st Place: Lewis Hamilton
2nd Place: Cam Newton
3rd Place: Morgan Mitchell
Best Podcast: Nutrition Facts With Dr. Greger
Lauded vegan physician Michael Greger, MD has cracked the podcast code by capitalizing on three of today’s biggest trends: plants, health, and irresistible short-form content. So it’s no wonder his expert-driven, 10 to 25-minute episodes have earned him his first Veggie Award.
1st Place: Nutrition Facts With Dr. Greger
2nd Place: Brown Vegan Podcast
3rd place: The Rich Roll Podcast
Best Cookbook: Craving Vegan by Sam Turnbull
With chapters ingeniously separated by cravings (think carby, cheesy, crunchy, and spicy)—plus 101 must-make recipes (we’re obsessed with the brunch-ready Dippy Egg Yolk sauce)—Turnbull’s third book easily claimed our top spot this year.
1st Place: Craving Vegan by Sam Turnbull
2nd Place: Plant-Based on a Budget by Toni Okamoto
3rd Place: HealthyGirl Kitchen by Danielle Brown
Our 2024 Prize Winners!
These six lucky VegNews readers are also big winners in our 2024 Veggie Awards. Congratulations to this year’s prize winners!
