Breakthrough made in vegan-friendly ice cream
NEW YORK (AP) — Nice cream: It’s what they call vegan ice cream. But with creamier bases and more interesting flavours, it’s not just for vegans anymore.
Dairy-free ice cream options have come a long way thanks in part to meat-eating folk looking to avoid dairy or just make healthier choices without defaulting to sorbet, the usual substitute.
Though banana is a popular base for vegan ice cream, so are nut butters, rice, soy and even hemp milk. Whatever the base, the texture and quality of ingredients are giving the products a higher profile, both in scoop shops and on grocery shelves.
“I love, love, love ice cream but I can’t eat it every day, you know,” said meat-eater Alexis Druyan, 24, on a recent stop at Chloe’s Soft Serve Fruit Co., a scoop shop in Manhattan’s bustling Union Square. “If I want to be healthy, I definitely come here for dessert.”
The Instagram-worthy neon light banana on Chloe’s wall says it all: Started by a froyo addict looking for a healthier choice, the shop uses only fruit, water and a touch of organic cane sugar to blend up creamy frozen treats like dark chocolate and pumpkin. Chloe’s opened its first shop in 2010, and now sells frozen pops in supermarkets and to hospitals, schools and hotels.
“The vegan thought process and connotation has changed over the last seven years,” said Michael Sloan, CEO and cofounder of Chloe’s.
“When we first opened and something was vegan, it couldn’t be good, and now I think we’ve helped explain that food can be delicious and oh, by the way, it’s vegan. We used to hide that we were vegan or say it just for the vegans who wanted to see it was for vegans. Now we promote that it’s vegan.”
While all Chloe’s offerings are vegan, Ben Van Leeuwen serves up dairy and non-dairy ice cream at five shops in New York and three in Los Angeles — and business is booming.
“Our customers asked for it. From day one we didn’t want the vegan ice cream to be an afterthought or a supplement to our regular menu,” he said of his Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream. “We applied the same commitment to using the best quality ingredients and using little or no stabilizers. We make the vegan ice cream with housemade raw cashew and almond, organic coconut cream, raw cocoa butter from Ecuador, raw extra virgin coconut oil and organic cane sugar.”
Dena Wilmette, senior innovation and communications manager for Ben & Jerry’s in Burlington, Vermont, said the company had already begun to research vegan options when protests demanding them, fueled by a petition drive, broke out at Ben & Jerry stores around the country on free cone day three years ago.
“This is no longer just about a small group of people,” she said. “More and more people are adding these types of products into their lifestyle.”