Spring picnics in the park are starting up again and Trader Joe’s has a cheesy new vegan snack to try. For a refreshing sip, we’re looking at Jim Beam which just launched a bubbly line of Kentucky Coolers spiked with a little bourbon. And if you’re a Rockies fan, there’s an entirely plant-based burger selection at Coors Field in Denver, CO this baseball season.
Read on for more.
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Vegan food news
On your next weekly grocery trip to Trader Joe’s, stop by the snacks aisle to check out the store’s latest vegan snack. These cheesy crackers are Called Savory Squares, like Cheez-Its but contain no dairy.
Trader Joe’s
“Made with a mix of nut and seed flours, these superbly snackable squares achieve an unmistakably Cheddar-y cheesiness and satisfyingly crispy crunch, all without the use of any gluten or animal-based ingredients,” Trader Joe’s described the new snacks on its website.
For a different kind of savory snack, we’re looking at Kelpie Chips by Snacks from the Sea which offers an intriguing line of seaweed-based chips in Chipotle, Salt and Pepper, and Zesty Pizza Flavors.
Grown and valued for its rich nutritional content, kelp offers a crunchy texture and a hint of umami that satisfies the palate. Each bag of Kelpie Chips is crafted from real kelp leaves, lightly fried and seasoned, ensuring a minimally processed snack without fillers.
“Kelp is one of the most nutritious foods for people and the planet,” Founder Jennifer Murphy said in a statement. “It’s packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, which makes Kelpie Chips not just delicious, but also incredibly beneficial for health.”
While the summer temps are around the corner, it still feels like ramen season. If you’re craving an easy warm meal, you can reach for Chef Woo, high-protein instant ramen in vegan flavors such as Braised Beef, Roasted Chicken, Thai Lemongrass, and Sweet Chile Togorashi. And doing so also supports a great cause.
From now through April 29, for every package of Chef Woo sold at nearly 600 Sam’s Club stores, Chef Woo’s parent company Borealis Foods Inc. will donate the monetary equivalent of at least five meals to Feeding America.
Chef Woo
“We are honored to stand alongside Sam’s Club and Feeding America in the vital mission to alleviate hunger in our communities,” Reza Soltanzadeh, CEO of Borealis, said in a statement.
This partnership is part of the “Fight Hunger. Spark Change,” campaign aiming to address food insecurity and malnutrition, which has helped secure 1.9 billion meals for local food banks in the Feeding America network over the last 11 years.
Vegan beverage news
The celebrity beverage collaborations at the luxury grocery store Erewhon in Los Angeles won’t quit. This month, it’s Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder’s turn with a drink that’s made to hydrate. The Mango Lemonade Liposomal Slush is made with supplements by Absorb More—a wellness company owned by Reed and Somerhalder. It also features coconut water, lemon, and blueberry lemon glaze, all blended with ice.
Oakberry
In more celebrity beverage news, supermodel Valentina Ferrer has teamed up with the açaí chain Oakberry to release a superfood smoothie made with her company Kapowder’s plant-based protein powder.
The Kapowder Super Glow Smoothie is crafted with Oakberry’s organic açaí, coconut milk, strawberries, and Kapowder Enhance plant-based collagen powder, which includes watermelon seed and beets.
If you’re headed to Coachella, you can rehydrate with a Kapowder Hyaluronic Hero Smoothie, which blends Oakberry açaí with coconut milk, banana, and Kapowder Enlighten—a mix with electrolytes, plant-based omega-3 fatty acids, and hyaluronic acid to boost hydration and energy.
“Oakberry has long been my açaí go-to and we’re so excited to team up with the brand to introduce two smoothies made with Kapowder,” Ferrer said in a statement. “Blended with our fan-favorite Enhance and Enlighten powders, the smoothies are sure to delight everyone who tries them.”
In adult beverage news, vegan-friendly bourbon company Jim Beam is tapping into a new category with the launch of Kentucky Coolers. Available in four new flavors—Orange Crush, Peach Crush, Blueberry Lemonade, and Strawberry Lemonade—these ready-to-drink refreshers deliver a light, crisp sipping experience, perfect for spring and summer festivities.
“We know firsthand how a carefully crafted beverage can complement life’s most cherished moments and that is captured in every can of Kentucky Coolers cracked open with the ones we love,” Veronique Mura, Jim Beam Global Brand Vice President, said in a statement.
Jim Beam
“We are proud to continue to innovate this iconic brand and introduce more unique flavors for people to connect over and share,” Mura said.
Vegan restaurant news
Kicking off the baseball season, Coors Field—home of the Denver Rockies—has expanded its menus to include Better-Off Burgers, a new sustainable vegan burger line in Original, Chorizo-flavored, or Mediterranean-style. These 12-ingredient burgers are primarily made from mushrooms and served with sumac slaw and olive tapenade.
Club Med
If you’re already thinking about summer vacation, look no further than Club Med Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. That’s because famed chef Chloe Coscarelli just partnered with the resort to launch a series of innovative plant-based dishes.
As part of Club Med’s focus on expanding its healthy dining options, Coscarelli has introduced a variety of new vegan recipes, including Crispy Orange Tofu, Pasta Alla Vodka with Pine Nut Ricotta, and Spicy Cashew Kelp Noodles. These dishes are part of the resort’s revamped Hispaniola restaurant, which recently underwent renovations.
The collaboration is also an extension of the partnership between Coscarelli and Club Med which resulted in new vegan options at eight of its resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean in 2022.
And for news that’s truly out of this world, we turn to CanGrow, which just won the Deep Space Challenge, hosted by NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), with its innovative system that creates food from mycelium—the fast-growing root systems of mushrooms.
Developed by Canadian companies Maia Farms and Ecoation, this technology is designed to sustain astronauts on missions to the moon, Mars, and beyond, with a nutritious food source. The team was awarded $380,000 for their system, which promises to revolutionize food production in space.
“What started out as a starry-eyed childhood dream to be the first ‘Astronaut Farmer’ has become reality today,” Gavin Schneider, CEO and Co-founder of Maia Farms, said in a statement. “Humanity is only able to explore as far as our food systems allow.”
This pioneering technology promises to revolutionize how we think about food production in space and could lead to exciting new culinary experiences in space restaurants, where traditional animal farming is not an option.
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Anna Starostinetskaya is the Senior News Editor at VegNews and is always keeping an eye on all things vegan in her home city of San Francisco, CA and everywhere else.
