Ahead of Ash Wednesday (February 14), PETA supporters will hand out free Good Catch vegan tuna fish in the heart of Milwaukee’s East Side to urge everyone to prevent fish from being impaled, suffocated, and gutted—all for a fleeting taste of their flesh—during the Lenten season. The giveaway coincides with the group’s new sky-high appeal going up near FreshFin Poké and other fishy eateries to urge would-be restaurantgoers to keep all animals off their plates during Lent and—for cod’s sake—throughout the rest of the year.
When: Thursday, February 8, 9:30 a.m.
Where: 2227 N. Farwell Ave., Milwaukee
“Fish are intelligent, complex individuals who feel pain and fear, just as all God’s creatures do,” says PETA Vice President Daniel Paden. “PETA’s giveaway will get people hooked on delicious vegan fare that makes it easy to show mercy to animals during this period of self-reflection and beyond.”
Animals aren’t mentioned in Genesis 1:29, which states that God provides “every seed-bearing plant” and “every tree whose fruit contains seed” as food for humans. Fish are smart, social animals who share knowledge, have cultural traditions, and communicate with one another using low-frequency sounds that humans can’t hear. Some woo potential partners by singing to them or creating intricate works of art. Despite this, more fish are killed for food each year than all other animals combined. In addition, 38 million tons of other aquatic animals, such as dolphins, whales, and sea turtles, are unintentionally caught each year to satisfy humans’ demand for seafood.
PETA’s billboard is located at the intersection of N. Farwell and E. North avenues in Milwaukee.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—offers a list of delicious vegan fish options, such as Gardein’s f’sh filets, Sophie’s Kitchen’s Fish Fillets, and Good Catch Plant-Based Crab Cakes, as well as a free vegan starter kit to help people get hooked on vegan food.
For Valentine’s Day, a PETA pig is putting his twist on Elton John and Kiki Dee’s classic heartbreak hit with a sky-high message urging viewers in the country’s top pork-producing state to show pigs some love, keep bacon off their plates, and go vegan.
“Every bit of bacon represents the pain and suffering of a terrified individual who didn’t want to die,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges everyone to open their hearts and keep pigs and other animals off their plates this Valentine’s Day and year-round.”
At slaughterhouses, workers shoot pigs in the head with a captive-bolt gun, hang them up by one leg, and cut their throat—often while they’re still conscious. Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year; reduces their own risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and obesity; and dramatically shrinks their carbon footprint. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.
The billboard is located at the intersection of Fourth Street S.W. and S. Eisenhower Avenue, near Buffalo Wild Wings, Applebee’s, and Smithfield Foods. It will also appear in Broussard, Louisiana; Omaha, Nebraska; and Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
For Valentine’s Day, a PETA pig is putting his twist on Elton John and Kiki Dee’s classic heartbreak hit with a sky-high message urging viewers in the country’s top bacon-consuming state to show pigs some love, keep bacon off their plates, and go vegan.
“Every bit of bacon represents the pain and suffering of an individual who felt pain and fear and didn’t want to die,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges everyone to open their hearts and keep pigs and other animals off their plates this Valentine’s Day and year-round.”
At slaughterhouses, workers shoot pigs in the head with a captive-bolt gun, hang them up by one leg, and cut their throat—often while they’re still conscious. Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year; reduces their own risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and obesity; and dramatically shrinks their carbon footprint. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.
The billboard is located on L Street near Just Good Meat, Omaha Steaks, and Quality Pork International. The ad will also appear in Broussard, Louisiana; Mason City, Iowa; and Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
Long Island native Edie Falco’s provocative Super Bowl ad—which spotlights dairy industry cruelty—is already kicking up a commotion before it’s even hit the airwaves, and to celebrate, PETA supporters and Humane Long Island—accompanied by a pair of giant inflatable babies armed with signs that read, “If You Can Read This, You’re Too Old for Breast Milk”—will hand out free Babybel Plant-Based cheese snacks on Friday, reminding people that cow’s milk is for calves and that vegan nosh is a winning play for everyone.
Where: 120 Veterans Memorial Hwy. #34, Commack
When: Friday, February 9, 12 noon
Credit: PETA
Falco’s ad shows a couple of shady characters bursting into her kitchen to steal her cheese. As she desperately chases after them, the surreal comedic scene suddenly cuts to somber footage of a mother cow chasing after a truck carrying away her calf—standard practice on dairy farms, which tear newborn calves away from their mothers so that the milk meant to nourish them can be sold for human consumption instead. The text reads, “Cheese Isn’t Your Baby. But It Robs a Mother of Hers. Go Vegan.”
“Cows love their babies, just like human mothers do, and cow’s milk is meant for baby cows, not for humans,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s downloadable vegan starter kits are available for everyone who wants to kick off kinder eating habits on game day and beyond.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness.
On Friday, ahead of Super Bowl Sunday—one of the biggest days of the year for cheese consumption—a loincloth-clad PETA member will be on Fourth Street near the Fremont Street Experience reenacting the myth of Sisyphus, who was condemned to roll a boulder up a mountain only to have it roll back down every time. She will push a giant vegan cheese wheel in downtown Las Vegas—and push everyone, particularly resistant men, to go vegan before the big game.
Where: 113 N Fourth St, Las Vegas
When: Friday, February 9, 12 noon
The display will call primarily on men, who are the most likely to whine that they “just can’t give up” dairy cheese—to “man up” and overcome their addiction. To prove how easy this is, everyone who shows up to witness the feat will be treated to complimentary creamy, dairy-free cheese wheels from Babybel, just one of the many tasty vegan cheeses now on the market.
“Men are notorious for being the most stubborn cheese addicts, and we’re challenging them to kick off Super Bowl Sunday by kicking this disgusting ‘mama’s boy’ habit for the sake of their arteries, the animals, and the Earth,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA’s display will remind everyone that sacking cruel and unhealthy dairy cheese is not a Sisyphean task.”
PETA notes that real men are protectors, not bullies, and in the dairy industry, calves are torn away from their mothers, often within a day of birth, so that the milk meant to nourish them can be stolen and sold to humans. PETA’s investigations into dairy facilities have found workers electroshocking cows in the face, hitting them with poles and a cane, and abusing them in other ways. Once their bodies wear out from repeated pregnancies, they’re sent to slaughter.
In honour of the pigs who died in agony after the truck carrying them caught fire due to a mechanical problem on North Talbot Road east of the 8th Concession Road in Tecumseh on February 6, PETA plans to place a sky-high memorial near the accident site pointing out who’s responsible for their deaths: everyone who isn’t vegan.
“Each of these pigs was an individual who died in pain and terror, engulfed by smoke and flames,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges everyone to prevent pigs from being crammed into trucks in the first place by taking the easy step of going vegan.”
PETA points out that pigs are playful, intelligent, friendly animals who are soothed by music, love playing ball, sleep in “pig piles,” and even enjoy getting massages. In the meat industry, workers chop off piglets’ tails, clip their teeth with pliers, and castrate the males. Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year; reduces their own risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and obesity; and dramatically shrinks their carbon footprint. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.
Diners in Miami and Fort Lauderdale just might think twice about chowing down on fried chicken after they see—and hear—“Hell on Wheels,” PETA’s guerilla-marketing campaign featuring a life-size chicken transport truck covered with images of real chickens crammed into crates on their way to a slaughterhouse, complete with actual recorded sounds of the birds’ cries and a subliminal message every 10 seconds suggesting that people go vegan.
Where: Outside Shake Shack, 901 S. Miami Ave., Suite 109, Miami, and Hooters, 17 S. Atlantic Blvd., Suite 304, Fort Lauderdale
When: Friday, February 9, 12 noon (Miami), and Thursday, February 15, 12 noon (Fort Lauderdale)
Credit: PETA
The vexatious vehicle will debut in Miami outside Shake Shack on S. Miami Avenue before moving on to confront diners at other chicken-centric restaurants, including Wing Spot, Red Rooster Overtown, Chicken Kitchen, Natural Chicken Grill, Le Chick Miami, and PDQ. The following week in Fort Lauderdale, the truck will ruffle feathers outside Hooters on S. Atlantic Boulevard before moving on to Wings & More Restaurant, Chicken Kitchen, Chick’nCone, Chickeatah’, Pollo Tropical, Chick-fil-A, and other eateries.
“Behind every barbecued wing or bucket of fried chicken is a once-living, sensitive individual who was crammed onto a truck for a terrifying, miserable journey to their death,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s ‘Hell on Wheels’ truck is an appeal to anyone who eats chicken to remember that the meat industry is cruel to birds and the only kind meal is a vegan one.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness.
Can our bodies be a natural Ozempic through vegan food consumption? Unilever is banking on plant-based diets to enhance the gut microbiome and boost consumers’ health.
With Ozempic and Wegovy dominating conversations about health over the last year – equally for their weight loss abilities and associated side effects – some TikTokers took to the naturally-occurring compound berberine, hailing it as “nature’s Ozempic”.
But it turns out there might be a natural version of these GLP-1 agonist semaglutide drugs: our gut. Specifically, incretin hormones, which can be regulated with nutrients like dietary fibre and foods that are fermented. Many plant-based foods are rich in fibre and polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs), which are key to feeding the gut microbes that produce incretin hormones – and it’s these products that one of the world’s largest food companies is banking on to improve consumer health.
By next year, Unilever is hoping to reach €1.5B ($1.61B) in annual sales for plant-based meat and dairy products. The goal is to make these products represent 54% of its total portfolio – by 2022, this figure had already reached 48%.
Explaining the move, Unilever’s global health director Julie Willems highlighted the health benefits of a vegan diet. “Firstly, it’s typically lower in calories and saturated fat and higher in fibre and unsaturated fats. Secondly, it can reduce the risk of disease,” she said.
How plant-based foods can trigger our bodies’ natural Ozempic
Research published in the peer-reviewed MDPI journal Nutrients last year revealed that plant-based diets could be the key to a healthy gut microbiome. As Christopher Damman, a professor of gastroenterologist at the University of Washington, notes: “Specialised bacteria in your lower gut take the components of food you can’t digest, like fibre and polyphenols… and turns them into molecules that stimulate hormones to control your appetite and metabolism. These include GLP-1, a natural version of Wegovy and Ozempic.”
Damman explains that modern food processing can remove bioactive molecules such as fibre and polyphenols, which help regulate metabolism and appetite. Drugs like Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro use GLP-1 (plus, in the latter’s case, GIP) hormone analogues to promote weight loss and blood glucose control – but these incretin-based therapies are also linked to gastrointestinal side-effects like nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and constipation, with more severe (but rarer) impacts including serious digestive issues like stomach paralysis, pancreatitis, and bowel obstructions.
This is where plant-based foods come in, which are adept at providing the nutrients needed to support a wider diversity of helpful gut microbes, according to Simone Pyle, Unilever’s science and tech manager for the gut microbiome.
“Over half of the microbes in our gut can be altered by what we eat, so the trick is to ‘feed’ the beneficial ones that are critical to maintaining good health,” she said. “These ‘good’ microbes become influential, improving the microbiome’s composition in a matter of weeks or even days.”
Citizen science programme the American Gut Project has found that people who eat over 30 different plant-based foods a week have a more diverse – and thus healthier – microbiome than those who eat 10 or fewer. Robert Dixon, who co-leads the science and tech team at Unilever, suggests that one of the best ways of maintaining microbiome diversity is to “eat a wide range of fruit and vegetables”. This means more fibre with beans and legumes, more prebiotics with fruits like berries, and more gut microbes with fermented vegetables.
Unilever’s own research reviews of adult and child/adolescent eating patterns reveal that general vegan diets are higher in fibre, PUFAs, folate, vitamins C and E, and magnesium than meat-based diets. But across all dietary categories, people were still not eating a wide enough variety of foods to get all the nutrients they needed.
Unilever’s plant-based push for gut health
Courtesy: Unilever
The CPG giant’s research projects are thus finding ways to improve its plant-based portfolio, with the target of selling double the number of products that “include meaningful amounts of healthy ingredients such as vegetables and fruits”, explained Pyle. Some of its brands making vegan products include Knorr, Hellmann’s, The Vegetarian Butcher, Ben & Jerry’s, and Magnum.
In ethical investor network FAIRR’s database of companies investing in plant-based product development, Unilever topped the list for two consecutive years (including the latest one in 2022), indicating its position as the leader among companies using protein diversification to drive growth and build climate-friendly portfolios.
With a market cap of over $120B, the company’s products are used by 3.4 billion people every day. It plans to use its reach to amp up its vegan offerings and support its Positive Nutrition strategy. “Our new Knorr dehydrated vegetable range in Argentina, for example, is made from 100% spinach, onions, bell peppers and carrots. The products take only three minutes to hydrate, can be used in all sorts of cooking and have a long shelf life, making them a great way to avoid waste,” said Pyle.
“Our Knorr vegetable soups are another example, delivering more than half of the daily amount of the fruit and vegetables recommended by the World Health Organization,” she added.
The company is also encouraging increased adoption of plant-based foods, especially produce consumption. Last year, a 32,000-person international poll revealed that 75% of respondents don’t think they’re eating the daily recommended amount of fruits and vegetables, with 23% saying they eat the suggested portions less than once a week.
Similarly, over 45% of Dutch consumers don’t eat vegetables every day. “To address this, we reformulated our Knorr meal kits and changed our back-of-pack recipes for alternatives that required adding more vegetables and less meat without compromising on taste,” said Pyle. “Based on consumer data after the launch, we estimate that we have increased Dutch vegetable consumption by around three million kg per year.”
Pyle cited a global DSM study from last year, which suggested that 73% of consumers recognise the link between good gut health and overall wellness. “As the conversation around gut health grows, I see Unilever continuing to incorporate scientific insights into food innovations that can help make plant-based eating an appetising option for our consumers,” she said.
Can Unilever cash in on our natural Ozempics with plant-based diets?
Kickoff may still be days away, but Kansas City has already scored. Ahead of National Pizza Day (February 9) and Super Bowl LVIII (February 11), one of the biggest days of the year for pizza sales, PETA has drafted its picks for the Top 10 Vegan Pizzas in the U.S., and with its mighty Luchador Vegan Beef pizza—loaded with seasoned vegan beef, dairy-free cheese, crisp red onion, salsa verde, taco sauce, and a drizzle of vegan sour cream on a signature flame-grilled crust—local pie purveyor You Wanna Pizza Me? has scored a spot on the list.
Credit: You Wanna Pizza Me?
“No matter how you slice it, the delectable Luchador Vegan Beef pizza from You Wanna Pizza Me? delivers flavor that can’t be topped,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “Every mouthwatering pizza on PETA’s list proves that eating vegan is a winning game plan.”
Every person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals each year daily suffering and a terrifying death and reduces their own risk of developing heart disease and cancer. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.
To kick off National Pizza Day (February 9) and Super Bowl LVIII (February 11), one of the biggest days of the year for pizza sales, PETA has drafted its picks for the Top 10 Vegan Pizzas in the U.S., and with its Vegan Meat Lovers pizza—loaded with creamy vegan cheese, classic tomato sauce, and meat-free pepperoni, sausage, and bacon—locally based pie purveyor Pizza Head has scored a spot on the list.
Credit: Pizza Head
“No matter how you slice it, the delicious Vegan Meat Lovers pizza from Pizza Head delivers flavor that can’t be topped,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “Every mouthwatering pizza on PETA’s list proves that eating vegan is a winning game plan.”
Every person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals each year daily suffering and a terrifying death and reduces their own risk of developing heart disease and cancer. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.
Those flocking to local Country Wings restaurants and other chicken-centric eateries this month might get cold feet, courtesy of two sky-high PETA messages that offer grim reminders about the deadly pathogens pumped out of crowded chicken and egg farms—ideal breeding grounds for deadly diseases such as avian flu, which has ripped through bird colonies around the world, killing thousands of penguins in Chile, and, for the first time, has spread to and killed vulnerable Antarctic penguins.
“When you buy products from the meat and egg industries’ factory farms, you kill not only chickens but also wildlife, who fall victim to the deadly diseases that these filthy places incubate,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA urges everyone to stop supporting these petri dishes for diseases by going vegan—and we have tips, recipes, and more to help.”
Chickens raised for their flesh and eggs are crammed into filthy, severely crowded cages or giant windowless sheds, creating optimal conditions for the spread and mutation of diseases, including avian flu, a highly infectious strain of which reached the Antarctic region for the first known time in late 2023. Within several months, hundreds of elephant seals as well as fur seals, kelp gulls, brown skuas, and Antarctic terns were found dead. Since then, the virus has killed two gentoo penguins and is suspected to have killed a king penguin. Researchers have warned about the virus’s potentially devastating impact on fragile Antarctic wildlife. As the virus has spread to the far corners of the world, a broad array of birds and mammals have been killed, including thousands of elephant seals in Argentina and a polar bear in Alaska.
The billboards are located near Country Wings restaurants at 6959 Macon Rd. and 3754 Victory Dr. They will also appear at two locations in Montgomery, Alabama.
Dunkin’ is being sued for $5M under the Americans with Disabilities Act, with plaintiffs alleging that the surcharge on plant-based milk discriminates against people with lactose intolerance. Do their claims stack up?
The US’s second-largest coffee chain, Dunkin’, is facing a class-action lawsuit for discriminating against customers with lactose intolerance by charging extra for plant-based milk in its beverages. The plaintiffs argue that the surcharge for non-dairy milk violates the American Disabilities Act, mirroring a similar ongoing case levelled against Starbucks.
Filed on December 26 in a district court in Northern California, the complaint lists 10 named plaintiffs seeking $5M in damages on behalf of all of Dunkin’s customers who opt for dairy alternatives. The suit claims that between 2018 and 2023, Dunkin’ has charged consumers between 50 cents to $2.15 extra for soy, oat, almond and coconut milk (the latter was discontinued from the menu at the end of last year).
The plaintiffs cite the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to support their suit, claiming that the surcharge of plant-based milks for beverages is discriminatory against people suffering from lactose intolerance, which is a disability under ADA, according to Bogdan Enica, an attorney representing the plaintiffs. “Being able to drink milk is a choice for some people, but it’s not for others,” he told NBC. But will this claim hold up in court?
Is lactose intolerance a disability?
Courtesy: Dunkin’
In the five years that the lawsuit covers, Dunkin’ earned $250M in revenue, and made significant profits after it “created a separate, higher-priced menu, aimed at customers who cannot ingest milk”, the lawsuit states. At the same time, the chain – which serves around three million cups of coffee daily – allows customers to modify beverages with whole or skimmed milk instead of the standard 2% milk at no extra cost.
Similarly, the lawsuit claims that Dunkin’ allows free substitutions to make drinks caffeine- or sugar-free for people with heart conditions, hypertension, diabetes and weight-control issues. In this vein, the attorneys argue that not only is the non-dairy surcharge a federal violation, but it also breaches anti-discrimination laws in the states where plaintiffs live, including Hawaii, California, New York, Texas, Massachusetts and Colorado.
The suit states that lactose intolerance and milk allergies are considered disabilities, noting that at least 12% of Americans suffer from the former, while over 15 million have a milk or dairy allergy. One estimate claims that between 80-90% of African Americans, Native Americans and Asian Americans are lactose-intolerant.
The complaint further notes the Dunkin’ allergen statement, which advises patrons to inform staff if they have a food allergy. However, the plaintiff argues that “they only accommodate those with lactose intolerance or allergies to milk by imposing a surcharge”.
“Once Dunkin’ asks about allergies, and someone with a disability requests a dairy-free product as an accommodation, they can’t impose a surcharge – as they don’t for caffeine-free drinks, etc.,” Arlene Kanter, founding director of Syracuse University’s disability law and policy programme, told NBC.
Additionally, there is “no material difference between the price of lactose-containing milks and the price of non-dairy alternatives”, according to the plaintiffs. But according to the Good Food Institute, gallon for gallon, plant-based milk was 87% more expensive than dairy in 2022 – though government subsidies no doubt play a part here. The lawsuit calls Dunkin’s surcharge “excessively high”, claiming that companies charge consumers more than what it costs them to provide it.
Could the ADA help abolish the plant-based milk surcharge?
Courtesy: Dunkin’
The lawsuit states that lactose intolerance and milk allergies are disabilities, and cites the ADA by saying: “[A] public accommodation may not impose a surcharge on a particular individual with a disability or any group of individuals with disabilities to cover the costs of measures, such as the provision of auxiliary aids, barrier removal, alternatives to barrier removal, and reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures, that are required to provide that individual or group with the nondiscriminatory treatment required by the Act or this part.”
Essentially, a public entity like Dunkin’ must make “reasonable modifications” to its rules or practices when required, to allow people with disabilities to afford its goods or services – unless the company can show that these changes would fundamentally alter the nature of their offerings.
“If a person qualifies as a person with a disability, and they’re entitled to an accommodation or modification – which in this case looks pretty simple as non-dairy milk – they cannot be charged extra,” explained Kanter.
She added that allergies and intolerances can be disabilities if they substantially limit a major life activity, but people who are perceived to have a disability are also protected by the ADA, which came into law in 1990 and was expanded in 2008 to broaden its definition of a disability.
“Dunkin’s policy of charging all customers a surcharge for non-dairy milks disproportionately affects persons with lactose intolerance and milk allergies,” Enica told USA Today. “The only choice for this group of people is to pay the surcharge.”
The $5M sought by the plaintiffs is the minimum amount that lawsuits need to seek to fall under the jurisdiction of a district court. It could help them regain some of the money they have spent on plant-based milk options at Dunkin’, and force businesses like itself to eradicate the surcharge. It’s a strong sentiment: Enica has said that more than 50 people who are lactose-intolerant or have milk allergies have reached out to join the lawsuit.
Chelsea Garland, a lactose-intolerant woman from San Diego, joined the legal filing because she felt it was unfair she had to pay more for a coffee that wouldn’t make her sick. “The Dunkin’ surcharge for non-dairy milk directly affected me, and I believed it was wrong,” she said.
Enica’s firm previously filed a similar class-action lawsuit in 2022 against Starbucks, which has filed a motion to dismiss, which is pending approval by the court. As for Dunkin’, the company has filed a waiver acknowledging the suit, and has until March 4 to respond.
Corporate legal watchdog ClassAction.org reports that attorneys are looking at whether other coffee companies – including Peet’s Coffee (which trialled free non-dairy modifications last April), Caribou Coffee (which dropped the surcharge in May, but only for loyalty programme members), Biggby Coffee, Dutch Bros, and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf – could be sued.
But businesses would be wise to follow the lead of coffee chains like Blue Bottle, which made oat milk its default option at a third of its locations in 2022 and doesn’t charge extra for oat or almond milk, and Philz Coffee, which replaced 2% milk with oat milk and offers it for free alongside soy and almond milk.
Spanish plant-based meat startup Heura has raised €40M ($43M) in a Series B round, in what is one of the largest investments in a vegan company in 2023. The company is now on the path to profitability and will look to license its tech and accelerate expansion.
Heura has closed the second-largest funding round for a plant-based company in 2023 (only behind Japan’s DAIZ), raising €40M ($43M) in Series B financing. It follows a €20M ($21.5M) pre-Series B round in 2022, with total funding for the brand reaching €88M ($94.6M).
Participants in the Series B round included Upfield (owned by investment firm KKR), Unovis Asset Management, the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund, and Newtree Impact, which Heura says builds a huge plant-based alliance, with a “board that will focus on top-notch tech to set new industry standards”.
Kim Anders Odhner, Managing Partner Europe-Asia at Unovis and Board member at Heura, notes that “the investment from Upfield is a strong validation of the company’s positioning and prospects”.
A tech-forward, clean-label alt-meat lineup
Courtesy: Heura
Founded in 2017, Heura makes clean-label plant-based analogues for chicken, beef, pork and fish, with a 19-strong lineup available in more than 22,000 locations in over 20 countries. One of the newest products to make a wave is its York-style deli ham slices, which were launched in October in Spain and France. Since then, the brand claims it is already the top rotating cold-cut alternative in its home country.
The ham analogues were the result of Heura’s first patent-pending tech, led by its Good Rebel Tech division, which was unveiled in April. Leveraging a novel thermomechanical processing technique, it can create additive-free vegan products with superior sensory and nutritional values and fewer ingredients, using only protein, water and oil to structure the product.
This isn’t really AI, but the tech relies upon using mathematical models in a similar fashion. “The main difference is that we are basing our approach and models on new scientific understanding of plant proteins that we generate in the tech lab,” Heura co-founder and CEO Marc Coloma told Green Queen in October. “We can improve [the] accuracy of our predictions, limit biases and, most importantly, develop breakthrough technological solutions which are based on new scientific knowledge; rather than optimising technologies that already exist based on published existing data.”
The company’s CTO, Isabel Fernandez, added: “We use a transdisciplinary approach to scientific research to overcome the greatest challenges the industry is facing. Our goals are ambitious. We are not aiming for small, incremental advancements based on cumulative improvements on what already exists, but rather exponential progress from scientific discoveries yielding breakthrough technological innovations.”
Those innovations can be applied across multiple plant-based categories, including deli meats, breaded analogues, whole-cut meats and seafood, and dairy products. “This approach enables us to not only cater to diverse tastes, but also aligns with our commitment to providing healthier, high nutrition and additive-free alternatives for consumers,” explained Coloma.
Giving consumers – and companies – what they want
Courtesy: Heura
The latest funding round will allow Heura to “boost its impact in the food industry”, accelerate international expansion, and explore more collaborative models beyond its own meat alternatives. Most notably, it will drive the company towards profitability, allowing the brand to continue leading the alt-protein sector’s growth in Spain and consolidate its footprint across markets like the UK and France.
Moreover, the company hopes to expand its portfolio of products as well as tech patents, while reaching new audiences through tech licensing. Its current offerings already play to key consumer concerns – health has emerged to be an increasingly important consideration for Europeans choosing to eat plant-based lately.
The 2023 EU Smart Protein survey, which covered 7,500 respondents in 10 countries, revealed that 51% of Europeans are eating less meat, with health being the primary reason why (cited by 47%). Likewise, health was the second-biggest purchase motivator for vegan food (after taste), chosen by 46% of respondents. Moreover, concerns about nutritional inadequacies are one of the major deterrents, with 24% of consumers selecting that reason.
Even globally, an Ingredion survey found that 78% would spend more money on products with ‘natural’ or ‘all-natural’ packaging claims. So the demand for products like the ones Heura is making is clear. “This achievement uplifts Heura’s vision of being at the forefront of Europe’s protein transition,” Coloma says about the latest funding effort.
“To change the food system, we need to move the pressure from consumers to the food industry, placing health and sustainability as non-negotiable,” he adds. “This new chapter will drive us to profitability while allowing us to develop breakthrough technology to tackle the key challenges within the industry in a scalable way.”
It marks a departure from a tough financial landscape for plant-based meat companies, which have seen VCs desert the space over the last year. Reflecting on this, Odhner highlights that Heura’s strengths have enabled the company to remain on strong footing. “Responding decisively to the slowing economy, the company continues to capitalise on a really strong following and robust market share in the Iberian peninsula, and is showing strong growth as it expands into France,” he tells Green Queen.
“The major differentiator lies in the company’s products and its positioning – Mediterranean flavours, clean label offerings, and innovative technologies aimed at extending shelf life, improving nutritional density, and introducing popular new formats.”
We’re all unique individuals, not numbers. Labeling and numbering have long been default modes of human behavior and organization. Relegating inanimate objects to the realm of numbers is one thing, but we should never do that to other species. An animal is not a number—and the lives of Samson the beagle, Ricardo the steer, and Clarke the dog particularly illuminate why treating them this way must stop.
Not a Number, Yet Humans Keep Labeling Animals as Digits
Whether the speciesist practice of numbering animals is applied to those who are used for experimentation, food, clothing, or other forms of exploitation, it’s always cruel and dismissive. Every animal is someone. Like us, they’re living, feeling individuals who deserve kindness and consideration.
Tattooed for Testing
Tattooing numbers on animals used in experiments—typically on their chests or inside their ears—isn’t just something you see in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3. Every day in laboratories around the world, this is done to mice, rats, rabbits, monkeys, dogs, bats, guinea pigs, hamsters, and others—all of whom suffer during the often-painful tattooing and the gruesome tests that follow.
These animals are regarded as nothing more than “research tools” in laboratories and treated as inanimate, unfeeling objects. Many of them live in barren, stainless-steel cages their entire lives—sometimes for decades. Almost none of them make it out alive.
Samson
Samson the beagle was rescued during a PETA investigation into Envigo’s massive breeding factory, which later closed. Once identified by a six-letter tattoo, he was one of the fortunate animals who survived and made it into a caring home.
But while stuck in a cage at Envigo’s prison, Samson was used as a breeding machine, reportedly resulting in hundreds of puppies’ births. He shied away from human contact because it often meant that he would be left soaked to the skin when workers sprayed his cage down with a high-pressure hose.
Thanks to PETA’s investigator, Samson was rescued just in time to spend Thanksgiving in a home with people who showed him kindness and respect. He saw snow for the first time and enjoyed a cozy Christmas with his new loving family.
Putting Numbers to the Test
Vivisection is no game. But if we’re going to play a numbers game with animals, it should be by looking at the record of the waste at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by the numbers. PETA has long called out NIH for funding or conducting tons of egregious experiments. Hundreds of thousands of animals are imprisoned at the agency’s sprawling headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland.
The latest Guardians of the Galaxy film alluded to the way NIH, companies, colleges, and facilities conduct tests on animals. Its moving scenes encouraged viewers to feel compassion for other species. This inspired PETA to give director James Gunn the “Not a Number” Award.
These gregarious beings prefer to spend time with other cows, creating complex relationships. They form strong maternal bonds with their babies. On dairy farms, mother cows have been known to frantically cry out for their calves for several days after they’ve been separated.
But the beef, veal, and dairy industries treat them as mere units.
Ricardo
Ricardo the rogue steer reportedly escaped in mid-December 2023 from a local slaughterhouse before ending up along the train tracks near Newark Penn Station—where dozens of PETA’s “I’m ME, Not MEAT” ads had been placed for the holiday season.
NJ TRANSIT rail service is subject to up to 45 minute delays between Newark Penn and PSNY, due to Police activity near Newark Penn Station. NJ TRANSIT rail tickets and passes are being cross-honored by PATH and Hoboken, Newark Penn and 33rd Street New York.
After the steer was captured, he was taken to Skylands Animal Sanctuary & Rescue in Sussex County, New Jersey, and named Ricardo. Now, he’s enjoying the greatest gift of all: a safe home where he can roam free, graze, and socialize with other animals.
Ricardo’s tale is a celebratory one, but countless animals still suffering on farms and in slaughterhouses aren’t so lucky. Each year, the meat and dairy industries exploit and kill more than 29 million cows in the U.S. alone.
Pigs Tallied and Killed
Factory farm workers also force other animals, such as pigs, to endure procedures including ear-tagging (in which tags are punched into their ears) or ear-notching (in which entire notches are cut out)—all without pain relief.
These highly intelligent, friendly, and loyal animals enjoy spending hours playing, lying in the sun, and exploring their surroundings with their powerful sense of smell.
But in the meat industry, piglets are torn away from their distraught mothers just a few weeks after birth. Their tails are chopped off, the ends of their teeth are snipped off with pliers, and the males are castrated, all without painkillers. The young tagged pigs then spend their short lives in cramped pens on slabs of filthy concrete.
On an alligator factory farm in Winnie, Texas, that supplied skins to an Hermès-owned tannery, a PETA investigator found alligators kept in fetid water and dank, dark sheds without sunshine, fresh air, clean water, or even basic medical care. At just 1 year old, they were shot with a captive-bolt gun or crudely cut into while they were still conscious and able to feel pain.
PETA’s provocative campaigns keep urging clothing companies to stop using animals. In early 2019, we even created earrings—resembling numbered tags that are painfully pierced into cows’ ears—for humans to wear as a way to raise awareness of the countless bovines who are abused and killed for their skin (often termed “luxury leather”).
Since an Animal Is Not a Number, Honor Their Individuality
Numbering any animal normalizes calling them “it” rather than using a kind and appropriate pronoun to show respect for their individuality. Objectifying animals by assigning them numbers also perpetuates speciesism and does humans a disservice by ignoring our capabilities of compassion and connection.
Clarke
A PETA undercover investigation into The Veterinarians’ Blood Bank(TVBB) captured footage of animals with numbers tattooed inside their ears. We found a dog assigned the number “1395,” also known as Clarke, at TVBB—a business in Indiana that keeps nearly 900 dogs and cats perpetually confined to barren kennels and crowded pens and sells their blood to veterinary clinics.
Clarke was born at TVBB and separated from his mother, Jessie, when he was about 6 weeks old. One of nine puppies in his litter, he was just over 8 weeks old when he was tattooed. A worker said that blood could be drawn from Clarke and his siblings starting when they were 6 months old.
The investigation found that workers even bled animals who were elderly, emaciated, or sick with upper respiratory infections, bone cancer, and other conditions. Like Clarke, many of the animals were born and bred at TVBB, although the facility acquired others as strays or from staff who answered ads seeking homes for unwanted animals—and all of them were treated as units to exploit.
For the sake of individuals like Clarke, PETA hopes to give out many more “Not a Number” Awards to humans who are making remarkable strides for each animal relegated to being labeled as a digit.
A Number of Ways to Take Action
Don’t align with the practice of labeling. Help liberate animals instead by regularly checking and signing up for PETA’s action alerts. You are not a number and would never want to be perceived as or treated like one, so extending the same consideration to other animals, going vegan, and helping to end speciesism are the most logical and compassionate choices. And speak up about NIH’s unconscionable numbers by telling Congress to support PETA’s Research Modernization Deal (RMD):
To kick off National Pizza Day (February 9) and Super Bowl LVIII (February 11), one of the biggest days of the year for pizza sales, PETA has drafted its picks for the Top 10 Vegan Pizzas in the U.S., and with its tangy BBQ Seitan Pizza—which can be made with vegan cheese and comes loaded with seitan, red onion, fresh cilantro, and BBQ sauce—local pie joint Spak Brothers has scored a spot on the list.
Credit: Spak Brothers
“No matter how you slice it, the savory BBQ Seitan Pizza from Spak Brothers delivers flavor that can’t be topped,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “Every mouthwatering pizza on PETA’s list proves that eating vegan is a winning game plan.”
Every person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals each year daily suffering and a terrifying death and reduces their own risk of developing heart disease and cancer. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.
To kick off National Pizza Day (February 9) and Super Bowl LVIII (February 11), one of the biggest days of the year for pizza sales, PETA has drafted its picks for the Top 10 Vegan Pizzas in the U.S., and with its hearty and savory Non Meat Lovers pizza—loaded with vegan mozzarella and meat-free meatballs, pepperoni, sausage, and ground beef—locally based pie purveyor Slice of Vegas Pizza Kitchen & Bar has scored a spot on the list.
Credit: Slice of Vegas Pizza Kitchen & Bar
“No matter how you slice it, the delectable Non Meat Lovers pizza from Slice of Vegas delivers flavor that can’t be topped,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “Every mouthwatering pizza on PETA’s list proves that eating vegan is a winning game plan.”
Every person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals each year daily suffering and a terrifying death and reduces their own risk of developing heart disease and cancer. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.
Slice of Vegas will receive a framed certificate from PETA along with bragging rights. Other winners include the Bangkok pizza at Red House Pizza in San Diego; the Pickle Back pizza at The Hop Craft Pizza & Beer in Richmond, Virginia; and the Mackin’ Out Pizza at Veganized in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
On Wednesday, ahead of Super Bowl Sunday—one of the biggest days of the year for cheese consumption—a loincloth-clad PETA member will be at Jefferson and First streets reenacting the myth of Sisyphus, who was condemned to roll a boulder up a mountain only to have it roll back down every time. She will push a giant vegan cheese wheel in downtown Phoenix—and push everyone, particularly resistant men, to go vegan before the big game.
Where: At the intersection of E. Jefferson and S. First streets, Phoenix
When: Wednesday, February 7, 12 noon
Credit: PETA
The display will call primarily on men, who are the most likely to whine that they “just can’t give up” dairy cheese, to “man up” and overcome their addiction. To prove how easy it is, everyone who shows up to witness the feat will be treated to complimentary creamy, dairy-free cheese wheels from Babybel, just one of the many tasty vegan cheeses now on the market.
“Men are notorious for being the most stubborn cheese addicts, and we’re challenging them to kick off Super Bowl Sunday by kicking this disgusting ‘mama’s boy’ habit for the sake of their arteries, animals, and the Earth,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA’s display will remind everyone that sacking cruel and unhealthy dairy cheese is not a Sisyphean task.”
PETA notes that real men are protectors, not bullies, and in the dairy industry, calves are torn away from their mothers, often within a day of birth, so that the milk meant to nourish them can be stolen and sold to humans. PETA’s investigations into dairy facilities have found workers electroshocking cows in the face, hitting them with poles and a cane, and abusing them in other ways. Once their bodies wear out from repeated pregnancies, they’re sent to slaughter.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat or abuse in any other way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness.
To kick off National Pizza Day (February 9) and Super Bowl LVIII (February 11), one of the biggest days of the year for pizza sales, PETA has drafted its picks for the Top 10 Vegan Pizzas in the U.S., and with its ultra-savory Balboa pizza—topped with cashew cheese, crushed “meatball,” cherry tomatoes, pistachio pesto, arugula, extra virgin olive oil, and chili flakes—locally based pie purveyor 20th Street Pizza has scored a spot on the list.
Credit: Michael Persico
“No matter how you slice it, the delectable Balboa pizza from 20th Street Pizza packs a flavor punch that can’t be topped,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “Every mouthwatering pizza on PETA’s list proves that eating vegan is a winning game plan.”
Every person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals each year daily suffering and a terrifying death and reduces their own risk of developing heart disease and cancer. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.
On Wednesday morning, PETA will hold its annual General Assembly Breakfast at the Colgate Darden Memorial Garden in Richmond—complete with coffee and tea, delicious treats from favorite eateries Yorgo’s Bageldashery in Norfolk and My Vegan Sweet Tooth in Virginia Beach, and good company, courtesy of a pack of delightful dogs, including a few available for adoption. The outdoor event will give legislators a chance to dig in and chat with PETA about legislative priorities for this session.
Where: Colgate Darden Memorial Garden, 1198 Capitol St., Richmond (outside the General Assembly building)
When: Wednesday, February 7, 9:45-11:45 a.m.
Suni can’t wait to meet you at PETA’s breakfast!
“PETA’s General Assembly Breakfast will be a fun opportunity for policymakers to fetch a few treats and shake a few paws,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “We look forward to seeing you there.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness.
Indian vegan bakery The Cinnamon Kitchen secured a ₹60 lakh ($72,000) investment from Aman Gupta on Shark Tank India. Landing the deal at 5% equity, the brand was valued at ₹12 crores ($1.44M), and is among a handful of other plant-based companies to have appeared on the show.
New Delhi-based bakery The Cinnamon Kitchen has joined a small but growing list of vegan businesses to secure an offer on season three of Shark Tank India, negotiating a successful deal with boAt founder Aman Gupta that puts the brand’s valuation at ₹12 crores ($1.44M).
The ₹60 lakh ($72,000) investment was the four-year-old brand’s first fundraise, and since the airing of the episode last week, it has already put a call out for chefs and pastry interns to work in its 2,500 sq ft factory in nearby Noida.
A vegan business fuelled by a PCOS diagnosis
Courtesy: The Cinnamon Kitchen
The Cinnamon Kitchen was born years after founder Priyasha Saluja was diagnosed with PCOS. Following the news, Saluja began experimenting with healthy treats to manage her condition. She ditched dairy, and swapped out refined flour for millets and white sugar for natural sweeteners.
Her hobby turned into a business in 2019, which now offers a comprehensive range of gluten-free, plant-based SKUs like cookies, vegan Cheddar chips, granola, cakes, crackers, fudge and even flours. Its popularity has gained it attention from Bollywood celebrities like Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, Arjun Kapoor and Malaika Arora.
Sharing her experience on LinkedIn, Saluja explained that The Cinnamon Kitchen was part of a cohort of eight to 10 businesses – where she was the youngest and only female founder – that were being supported by the Shark Tank India team with polishing pitches, creating setups and revising financials thoroughly.
She revealed that entrepreneurs on the show enter the tank twice – once for the first shot of entering the tank, and the other when they walk inside to the sharks. The pitch, though, has to be in a single shot. “When it was time for the first shot, the music started playing, all lights were on me, cameras were focused, and as I kept walking towards the tank, it filled me with immense confidence – it was in that moment that I truly felt prepared,” she wrote.
In another post, she said: “I grew up watching Shark Tank US since I was 13-14, and I had never thought that one day I would be there, but I was here. The dissociation was so huge in that moment that I still felt like I was watching it, except that I was not watching it, I was in it.”
Saluja shared that she struggled with the pitch initially, before writing the whole thing in one go. “As I started putting my thoughts on paper, I realised I couldn’t do it for two days because I was trying to be someone else: a serious businesswoman with a very strategic sounding number-led pitch,” she explained. “Through writing the pitch, I realised that the only way to go about it was to be who I truly am and have fun during the process.”
How The Cinnamon Kitchen bagged the Shark Tank India deal
Saluja’s pitch – asking for ₹60 lakh ($72,000) for a 2% stake in the business – was full of rhymes and humour and garnered a few laughs from the Sharks, who were impressed with the flavour of the samples she produced. However, the brand’s packaging and labelling were criticised by Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal and Sugar Cosmetics founder Vineeta Singh, who called out the unclear colour use and damaged-looking labels. Mittal indicated that the brand had too many focuses, and that she needed to choose between the bakery and the CPG business.
The Cinnamon Kitchen founder managed to turn it around, though, backed by impressive numbers. Bootstrapping the company with just ₹50,000 ($600), her business grew from strength to strength financially, with sales rising from ₹1.4 lakhs in 2019-20 to ₹82 lakhs in 2022-23. She projected that the business would make ₹6 crores this year, which left the Sharks taken aback, but she explained that the startup had already seen ₹1.3 crores by September (at a 30% profit), and would see a festive season spike for Diwali.
She received an offer from Singh, who matched the ₹60-lakh ask, but with a 10% stake instead of the original 2%. Mittal proceeded to join her with the same offer. But then, Singh swooped in with an individual offer of ₹10 lakhs ($12,000) for 2% equity, plus a further ₹50 lakhs ($60,000) in debt at 12% interest over two years.
But Saluja wanted a deal without debt, and countered with a deal of ₹60 lakhs for 4%. Gupta raised this to 5%, before the entrepreneur was advised by a guest Shark (who had opted out of the deal due to a conflict of interest) to counter to both offers on the table with ₹1.2 crores ($144,000) at a 10% stake. When she did so, Singh withdrew her interest, while Gupta expressed that he wouldn’t be interested in investing so much.
Saluja eventually said yes to Gupta’s 5% deal, which valued The Cinnamon Kitchen at ₹12 crores ($1.4M). Despite the back and forth, she managed to seal an offer that would help propel the vegan bakery business forward, and joined a very exclusive list of plant-based businesses to have gained a Shark Tank deal in India. This includes jackfruit meat maker Wakao Foods and footwear company Ethik (protein powder brand Green Protein and hemp business India Hemp and Co. were also offered deals, but turned them down).
Brands like The Cinnamon Kitchen play to what Indians want from plant-based foods, a market valued at $42M in 2022. In 2021, a Kerry study found that health was the top motivating factor for Indians switching to vegan food. This is especially true for plant-based dairy products, according to research by the Good Food Institute, with claims like “no added sugar” or “no preservatives” appreciated by consumers.
With a relatively huge valuation for a plant-based startup in India, The Cinnamon Kitchen will now hope that both the Shark Tank effect and investment will boost its sales in the short- and long-term, respectively.
When we think about Las Vegas, we tend to think of gambling, showgirls … and vegan food. That’s right: The party capital of the world has so many delicious, plant-based options that you can let your hair down without letting your compassion go. Here are some of the best spots to satisfy your taste buds between hitting the casino and that Cirque du Soleil show. You’re welcome.
This Los Angeles–based staple is bringing vegan fine dining to the Strip with its house-made pastas, stuffed zucchini blossoms, and artichoke “oysters.” It also has a quick-service option, which allows you to grab sausages, burgers, milkshakes, and more.
For big burgers, breakfast sammies, and old-fashioned shakes, head to vegan chain Plant Power Fast Food. This drive-through spot is the chain’s first location outside California.
Many of the offerings at Ronald’s Donuts are vegan, including apple fritters and cream-filled doughnuts. It also offers savory breakfast options, like vegan Ham & Cheese Bagels.
Fremont Street’s Flippin’ Good has a juicy, crispy vegan chicken sandwich option, which can be tossed in a spicy ghost pepper sauce for adventurous eaters. Don’t forget to add a side of fried pickles, onion rings, or hand-cut French fries to complete your meal.
Another favorite in downtown Las Vegas is Phyto’s Vegan Eats, which makes pig-free hot dogs loaded with tasty toppings, like kimchi, pico de gallo, and vegan bacon.
Chef Kenny’s opened in 2021 and has been a favorite of locals and visitors alike since, with a delicious assortment of Asian-inspired dishes, from steamed buns to sushi rolls.
The vegan menu at Nacho Daddy has something for everyone, including our personal favorite, the Vegan Chick’n Chimichanga—a deep-fried burrito filled with grilled vegan chicken, veggies, salsa, and wild rice.
Las Vegas’ first vegan butcher shop, NoButcher, offers a wide selection of vegan meats and cheeses. In addition to the classic deli options, they also serve freshly made sandwiches and salads. Swing by to enjoy a sandwich in-house or hit the drive-through for a quick fix.
If you’re near Mandalay Bay or the Luxor, Slice of Vegas is a must-try. Located in The Shoppes at Mandalay Place, it offers an impressive vegan menu featuring pizzas, pastas, and sandwiches, including a vegan meatball sub and even a vegan Philly cheesesteak.
This Mexican-style restaurant also located in the Shoppes at Mandalay Place boasts a vegan menu. We recommend starting with some guacamole and one of Hussong’s signature margaritas. Follow it up with any of the delicious entrée options, including classics like chile relleno, enchiladas, and vegan fish tacos.
As one of the most vegan-friendly places in Vegas, the Wynn offers delicious plant-based options everywhere you turn. All of its restaurants feature vegan options, and the menus were created by renowned vegan chef Tal Ronnen. Enjoy Vegan Chick’n and Waffles for breakfast at Terrace Pointe Café or a vegan cheeseburger from Jardin for dinner.
Just a 2-mile trek from the Strip, The Modern Vegan’s entire menu will fulfill any foodie’s wildest dreams. Its marquee menu specializes in comfort food, and some of the show-stopping dishes include vegan fried chicken, baked mac ‘n’ cheese, and burgers, along with a ton of breakfast favorites.
If you are staying downtown and have a pizza craving, look no further than Pop Up Pizza. It’s located in the beautiful Plaza Hotel and delivers in the area. Pop Up’s vegan pizza, The Vegan, is piled high with vegan cheese goodness and lots of artichokes, sautéed spinach, roasted mushrooms, and roasted bell pepper. It’s available by the slice in the casino. You can also create your own and choose vegan cheese to make your perfect plant-based pie.
A staple at Vegas farmer’s markets since 2013, the Garden Grill opened its brick-and-mortar location in July 2019. Its all-vegan, organic, comfort-food menu boasts a variety of tacos as well as classic savory sandwiches, such as the delicious Philly Cheeze Steak.
In honor of the birds who burned to death in a massive fire that broke out at Feather Crest Farms in Kurten on Monday, PETA plans to place a sky-high memorial in the area pointing out who’s responsible for their deaths: everyone who isn’t vegan.
“Each of these chickens was an individual who died in terror and pain, engulfed by smoke and flames,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges everyone to prevent birds from being crammed into flammable warehouses in the first place by taking the easy step of going vegan.”
Hens used for egg production are confined to cramped wire-floored cages, in which they don’t even have enough room to spread their wings. When hens’ bodies wear out and they’re no longer considered profitable, egg producers stuff them into metal boxes and crudely gas them with carbon dioxide, which is distressing and painful—or send them to slaughterhouses, where workers cut their throats, often while they’re still conscious, and scald many to death in defeathering tanks.
Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year; reduces their own risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and obesity; and dramatically shrinks their carbon footprint. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.
On Tuesday, ahead of Super Bowl Sunday—one of the biggest days of the year for cheese consumption—a loincloth-clad PETA member will be on Fourth Avenue reenacting the myth of Sisyphus, who was condemned to roll a boulder up a mountain only to have it roll back down every time. She will push a giant vegan cheese wheel in downtown Tucson—and push everyone, particularly resistant men, to go vegan before the big game.
Where: At the intersection of N. Fourth Avenue and E. Sixth Street, Tucson
When: Tuesday, February 6, 12 noon
Credit: PETA
The display will call primarily on men, who are the most likely to whine that they “just can’t give up” dairy cheese—to “man up” and overcome their addiction. To prove how easy this is, everyone who shows up to witness the feat will be treated to complimentary creamy, dairy-free cheese wheels from Babybel, just one of the many tasty vegan cheeses now on the market.
“Men are notorious for being the most stubborn cheese addicts, and we’re challenging them to kick off Super Bowl Sunday by kicking this disgusting ‘mama’s boy’ habit for the sake of their arteries, the animals, and the Earth,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA’s display will remind everyone that sacking cruel and unhealthy dairy cheese is not a Sisyphean task.”
PETA notes that real men are protectors, not bullies, and in the dairy industry, calves are torn away from their mothers, often within a day of birth, so that the milk meant to nourish them can be stolen and sold to humans. PETA’s investigations into dairy facilities have found workers electroshocking cows in the face, hitting them with poles and a cane, and abusing them in other ways. Once their bodies wear out from repeated pregnancies, they’re sent to slaughter.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat or abuse in any other way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness.
To honor the four cows who were killed and the dozens of others who were injured and traumatized in a truck crash on I-41 in January, PETA has erected a sky-high memorial that asks everyone to see cows not as pieces of meat but as the individuals they are. The message is located on the way to the crash site and only 2 miles from the JBS slaughterhouse, where the survivors were presumably hauled off to be killed for human consumption.
“Cows feel pain and fear and value their lives, just as humans do, and don’t want to be crammed into trucks or carved up and eaten,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges everyone to see cows as the thinking, feeling individuals they are and go vegan.”
In 2023 alone, there were at least 72 documented animal-transport truck crashes. Millions of cows were trucked to slaughterhouses, where workers shoot animals in the head with a captive-bolt gun, hang them up by one leg, and cut their throat—often while they’re still conscious. Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year, dramatically shrinks their carbon footprint, and reduces their risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and obesity. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.
PETA’s message is located near 2605 Monroe Rd. (Please see the Google Maps link here.)
Some serious food for thought from PETA aims to drive residents of Gulfport—labeled the second “unhealthiest city” in the U.S.—to stop eating meat, which is chock-full of cholesterol and cruelty. The group’s new messaging blitz appears on buses throughout the city, giving riders a chance to take in the information along with the sights.
Credit: PETA
“Meat is loaded with fat and cholesterol, and raising animals just to kill and eat them is a disaster not only for them but also for human health and the planet,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk, a vegan for over 50 years. “PETA stands ready to help with free downloadable vegan starter kits full of recipes and tips.”
Pigs, cows, chickens, and other animals commonly killed for food are smart, sensitive individuals who feel pain and fear, just as humans do. Yet most of them are raised in filthy conditions and endure severe crowding and routine mutilations such as castration and tail-docking—often without any pain relief—and don’t see the sun or breathe fresh air until the day they’re forced onto trucks bound for the slaughterhouse.
Each person who goes vegan saves nearly 200 animals each year and improves their own health, since vegans are less prone to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and strokes. According to the United Nations, a global shift toward vegan eating is necessary to combat the worst effects of the climate catastrophe. PETA’s 3-Week Vegan Challenge can help anyone starting their vegan journey with recipes, shopping tips, meal plans, and other resources.
The ads are running on nine buses in Gulfport and Biloxi.
Today, PETA sent a letter to National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman and members of the Every Woman’s Marathon advisory board—including paratriathlon champion Danielle McLaughlin and Olympic medalist Deena Kastor—pointing out that there’s no such thing as a pro–dairy industry feminist, given that calves are torn away from their mothers and that cows are artificially inseminated, among other factory farm horrors, and urging them to reconsider their support of the upcoming race sponsored by MilkPEP. PETA reports that in order to collect milk for human consumption, workers forcibly impregnate female cows repeatedly on what the industry itself calls a “rape rack.” They steal the newborn babies from their mothers—a separation that causes the animals extreme distress—within hours of birth and send the females to slaughter once their bodies break down from repeated pregnancies and hyperproduction of milk.
“Cows are severely and systematically abused on today’s factory farms, so anyone who promotes the dairy industry is turning their back on those females,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is urging Ms. Gorman to pull out of this sour stunt or risk losing the respect of fans who care about the treatment of all females.”
I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—PETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters globally—regarding your puzzling support of the Every Woman’s Marathon. Our leadership is now and has always been made up primarily of women. I am a distance runner who competes in several marathons and 50ks a year, and I would no more drink cow’s milk at the end of a race than I would smoke a cigarette. The event sponsor, MilkPEP, is the dairy industry’s marketing arm, which promotes a hugely problematic industry that exploits females and steals newborn babies from mothers.
You and every woman enticed by the puffery of this event are being used by the dairy industry to pimp a product involving the metaphorical rape of the environment and actual rape of cows and that is linked to breast and ovarian cancer and more. Please consider these facts and withdraw from this hideous advertising event: Humans are the only species on Earth who drink milk past infancy. We aren’t meant to do so, which is not surprising when you know that approximately 70% of the human population and millions of Americans, including up to 80% of African and Latine Americans, are lactose intolerant, yet dairy industry lobbyists push milk on these populations anyway, which is making them sick. The dairy industry works very hard to suppress the mounting stack of evidence pointing to meat and dairy as cancer culprits, including the evidence that IGF-1 growth factor found in dairy products increases the risk of developing breast cancer.
Filthy factory farms are today’s dairies. Cows are its handmaidens. They produce milk only when they’re pregnant or nursing, just like human mothers. Farmers exploit the female reproductive system to keep the milk flowing. Animals on factory farms are forcibly violated sexually, which the industry calls “artificial insemination.” To impregnate a cow, she is restrained in what industry insiders have called a “rape rack” and workers jam their arms far into the cow’s rectum so as to position the uterus and then force a syringe of semen into her vagina. Rape is wrong, no matter who the victim is.
Calves are taken from their mothers, often within a day of birth so that the milk meant for them can be sold. This separation causes both the mother and baby extreme distress. Frantic mothers are known to chase after their stolen babies and can be heard calling for their calves for days. The value of a cow on a dairy farm is entirely tied to the industry’s exploitation of her reproductive system. If she can’t get pregnant and lactate, she is considered useless to the industry and is killed.
Raising animals for food requires massive amounts of land, food, energy, and water and is not something any environmentalist should support. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the production of meat, eggs, and dairy is the leading cause of ocean dead zones, water pollution, species extinction, and habitat destruction.
You stand for so much that is right, and you’re the voice of a new generation, so you must understand that all exploitation and harm done to females of any species in the name of greed is wrong. Please rethink your role in helping a wretched, cruel, environmentally damaging, and anti-woman industry promote itself via Every Woman’s Marathon. Thank you for your consideration of this urgent matter.
Sincerely,
Lisa Lange
Senior Vice President of Communications
Twenty-five years after her Emmy Award–winning role as Carmela Soprano in The Sopranos, Edie Falco is taking on a seedy, violent underworld again—this time in PETA’s 2024 Super Bowl ad running on local airwaves in New Jersey, where the hit series was set.
Edie Falco Stars in Surprise Super Bowl Spot With a Sopranos Twist. Credit: PETA
The spot shows her back in the family’s kitchen making pizza when a couple of shady characters burst in and take her cheese away, prompting her to weep for its return. As she desperately chases after their getaway truck, the surreal comedic scene suddenly cuts to somber footage of a mother cow chasing after a truck carrying away her calf—standard practice on dairy farms, which tear newborn calves away from their mothers so that the milk meant to nourish them can be sold for human consumption instead. The text reads, “Cheese isn’t your baby. But it robs a mother of hers. Go vegan.”
“Once anyone thinks about severing the bond between mother cows and their beloved calves, it’s a fair bet that many of them will say ‘fuhgeddaboudit’ to cheese,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA’s downloadable vegan starter kits are available for everyone who wants to kick off kinder eating habits in 2024 and beyond.”
Cows used for dairy are forcibly inseminated (a sexual assault) as workers insert an arm into the cow’s rectum and then use a metal rod to deliver semen into her vagina—all because cows produce milk only when they give birth and factory farmers want a constant supply of it. Once their bodies wear out after repeated pregnancies, they’re sent to slaughter. Each person who goes vegan saves nearly 200 animals each year and improves their own health, since vegans are less prone to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and strokes.
PETA’s Super Bowl ad will air on Saturday, February 10, on WCBS-TV.
In an exclusive interview with Green Queen, Wild Earth co-founder and alt-protein investor Ryan Bethencourt talks the death threats he’s received, his experience with Shark Tank and Mark Cuban, his investment criteria, learning from Tesla, media bias, and his company’s upcoming cat food and Basics lines.
“It was honestly pretty brutal,” says Ryan Bethencourt, recalling a trip he took with his father when he was 10. “I loved animals, cared for lots of our dogs and cats, and I then went to see a pig slaughtered in front of me.”
He recalls seeing the fear in the creature’s eyes – as if the life had been drained out of them. “They were sliced up in front of me,” he describes, noting the day he quit pork.
That was over 30 years ago now, a period since which Bethencourt has emerged as a leading scientist, entrepreneur and investor in the alternative protein industry. His trip to the farm provides a snapshot of a man who deeply cares about animals – he grew up with a bunch of dogs, cats and other “exotic pets” – and his company Wild Earth, which makes food for our furry friends, extends that image.
It took him until his late teenage years to go fully vegetarian, but it was really in his late 20s that he gave up animal foods altogether, after watching the 2005 documentary Earthlings. “I went vegan the next day,” the now-44-year-old tells me. “As Ursula Le Guin wrote in one of my favourite short stories, once I had seen the wrongness of our society, I chose to walk away from Omelas and go vegan.”
What Ryan Bethencourt the investor looks for in startups
A few years after taking the plant-based plunge, Bethencourt and a few friends co-founded Indie.Bio in 2014, a biotech accelerator based in San Francisco, which has funded dozens of leaders in the alternative protein industry. It marked the beginning of his journey as an investor.
Bethencourt calls his journey of becoming an angel investor accidental. “I wanted to keep supporting ‘future of food’ companies post IndieBio, and I started to invest tiny angel cheques to help founders just get off the ground (most were their first cheques),” he says, naming companies like cultivated meat leaders Shiok Meats (Singapore) and Newform Foods (South Africa). “Over time, I realised I needed more capital to support so many founders that were approaching me.”
Courtesy: Wild Earth
This is when he launched Sustainable Food Ventures with food and flavour scientist Mariliis Holm. It’s a rolling fund that backs 60 companies over three years (50% of which are first cheques). Over the last decade, Bethencourt has been involved in the angel or VC funding of more than 180 companies. Some of his favourites? Upside Foods, Mycoworks, NotCo, Geltor, Jellatech, Galy, Hoxton Farms and Farmless, among many others.
What does a serial investor like him look for in a company? The North Carolina resident has three simple criteria. He calls the first “missionary over mercenary”, indicating support only for people who deeply care about a sector. “They’ll keep going no matter what, and you need that when building a business. No company or industry stays hot forever, and when it gets brutally hard, that’s when missionaries shine,” he explains.
The next is a focus on new and interesting insights or technology, “ideally with a deep understanding of why others that have tried failed and why this time it’s different”. Finally, he asks the question: “Do I want to work with this person/team for the next few decades?” He believes this is his most unusual insight, as he views backing a founded as a lifelong commitment – it’s not just their first startup, but those that follow too. For example, he invested in Alan Perlstein’s Miraculex (now Oobli) years ago, and has since funded Perlstein’s latest startup, California Cultured.
“I still get founders of large commercial companies who call me and ask for my perspective on their companies or their next startup, and I love the fact they feel comfortable reaching out to me as the years roll on,” says Bethencourt.
Creating Wild Earth and securing a Shark Tank deal with Mark Cuban
It was at Indie.Bio when Bethencourt first became “obsessed about pet food”. There were a few reasons for this. The investor had learnt that 30% of the meat consumed in the US goes to feeding pets (which, to him, meant that 25-30% of factory-farmed animals could be replaced). He also realised that dogs, as omnivores, could “survive and thrive” on a plant-based diet. And he was even more shocked to find out that cats (traditionally seen as obligate carnivores) could similarly prosper on a nutritionally complete vegan diet.
Courtesy: Wild Earth
It sparked an idea that propelled Bethencourt to mainstream popularity. “I really believe in the saying: ‘Let food be thy medicine.” And most pet food is honestly horrible,” he says, invoking the dreaded 4Ds – dead, diseased, dying or downed animals – and referring to the contamination with euthanasia drugs and melted plastic.
“All of these contaminants have been found by the FDA in pet food, and that’s before you actually understand what our pets are being fed: ground-up chicken feathers, beaks and other horrible things,” he notes. “The great irony of this all is we can replace the entire rotten pet food industry with nutritionally compete plant-based and yeast-based proteins, clean and not gross.”
He took it upon himself to transform the pet food industry for all the animals, and started Wild Earth with his co-founders in 2017. Two years later, he appeared on national television with the aim of generating interest and investment in his company. Suffice it to say, he was successful in reaching his goal, and then some.
On Shark Tank, Bethencourt landed a deal with Mark Cuban, securing $550,000 for 10% of the company. (Since then, Wild Earth has closed Series A and A+ rounds to bring total funding to nearly $50M). “Shark Tank was a surreal experience,” he reveals. “A lot of people don’t know this, but there aren’t any redos on the show. When the doors open, you get one shot and that’s it, and the pressure is intense as they make sure you never meet the Sharks prior to the pitch.”
The Sharks went hard on Bethencourt after he revealed that Wild Earth had no commercial sales yet (with plans to launch its first product soon), despite essentially valuing the business at $11M. He expected that response. “We were trying our best to make sure we made the best dog food possible and it was taking a lot longer than I originally hoped,” he tells me.
“I hoped one of them would see the vision behind Wild Earth and why we had to bring change to the pet food industry, and luckily, right at the end when all the Sharks had declined, Mark looked at me and made me an offer. I honestly thought he was going to pass too, but he really understood where the future was going and was willing to take a chance.”
Bethencourt says Cuban and his team have provided “incredible support” over the years, adding that he speaks to Cuban every few weeks. “I think Mark also deeply understood the opportunity in the plant-based/vegan space,” he suggests. “After he backed us, I kept sending him studies on plant-based diets’ health benefits and strength/exercise benefits too. A few years back, Mark went mostly vegetarian, and I think it’s helped keep him in great shape on top of his commitment to lots of exercise.”
Exploring cultivated meat and health benefits of vegan pet food
Wild Earth didn’t stop at vegan pet food, though. In 2022, the company announced its foray into cultivated meat with a cultured chicken broth topper for dogs. A year and a bit later, it remains one of only a handful of producers working on cell-based pet food.
“I’ve spent a lot of time talking to everyone, including the biggest critics of the plant-based industry, cattle ranchers, self-proclaimed carnivores, and some of the biggest meat producers on the planet. I’m convinced that while many of us (at least 50% of us) are happy with plant-based and fermented protein options, there’s still a large group of consumers who want ‘real’ meat, and I think we can make those products for them too, [which] are slaughter-free, but real meat,” Bethencourt explains.
Did the company receive any concerns from its vegan consumer base? “Yes we did,” he confirms. “We had lots of conversations and as we’ve seen, this topic is controversial. It’s likely that we’ll launch a separate line of cultivated pet foods under a different brand to ensure that there’s no confusion.”
While all of Wild Earth’s consumer products will be vegan, this possible future line of cultivated products will cater to people who still want “real” meat for their pets, but want to skip the low quality and cruel use of animals in factory farming. “Our mission at Wild Earth is to make killer food without the killing,” states Bethencourt.
Courtesy: Wild Earth
Consumer apprehension over the health aspects of alternative proteins is a key challenge for the industry in 2024. The Wild Earth CEO says he’s seen a “dramatic change” in perception about the health credentials of dog food in the last seven years. This shift has occurred both in consumers who’ve noticed benefits for their pets when eating vegan, and veterinarians who are recommending plant-based diets for dogs to tackle food allergies, weight control, diabetes and other clinical applications, according to Bethencourt.
“We’ve also seen a dramatic shift in who the average Wild Earth consumer is: when we started, the majority of our customers were vegan/vegetarians, but today, the majority of our customers aren’t (over 70%). We’re seeing widespread adoption from consumers just looking for cleaner and healthier food, and they’re now comfortable with plant-based pet foods.”
That has given rise to an increasing number of vegan pet food brands and products. One estimate put this market at $26B in 2022, predicting it to double to $57B by 2032. Companies like The Pack, Omni, Hownd (all UK), Noochies (Canada), Paleo (Belgium) are all innovating in this space, and that’s without looking at the larger players launching dedicated plant-based lines.
“The vast majority of both vegans and vegetarians still feed their pets meat-based pet food,” asserts Bethencourt. “I know because I get lectured almost daily (particularly) by vegans who tell me that dogs can’t be vegan (after we’ve fed tens of thousands of dogs plant-based diets for many, many years and they’ve thrived).
“I’m thankful I no longer get the death threats though,” he adds, recalling people’s uproar over feeding dogs vegan food. “Those were weird.”
Courtesy: Wild Earth
He calls recent research about the benefits of plant-based diets for pets his “favourite new development” in the space, particularly the studies by University of Winchester professor Andrew Knight. In 2022, he published a paper revealing that dogs fed vegan diets were healthier and required fewer veterinary interventions. He followed it up with similar research for cats, showing that felines on a plant-based diet could be healthier than those fed meat.
Bethencourt believes the increase in such studies has led to vets getting more receptive of vegan pet food, and industry giants like Mars, Nestlé and General Mills experimenting with plant-based launches. “We’re still early, [but] I’m confident we’re starting to reach a tipping point in the US, Europe and the UK, and hopefully soon globally,” he says.
‘Plant-based industry can learn a lot from Tesla’
While Wild Earth did develop its lines of cultured chicken (and beef), it has been forced to pause their development due to the challenging financial environment globally, doubling down on its commercial plant-based products instead. “We’re now in conversations with other companies who have developed cell-based lines about partnering to produce future slaughter-free meat lines,” reveals Bethencourt.
It’s reflective of the wider challenges for alternative meat across the world, a slump he calls “brutal, but… inevitable”. “All industries move in boom and bust cycles. In the plant-based space, most funding has frozen, but – and here’s the important part – the customers are still out there, and across Europe, the US and Asia more customers are becoming open to plant-based products,” he explains.
“I think one of the biggest challenges for all of us is competing with some of the planet’s largest companies in the food category. Most plant-based food companies are tiny in comparison to today’s food giants, but if we focus on making incredible products, with great customer benefits and very competitive prices, we can win.”
Courtesy: Wild Earth
The narrative around plant-based hasn’t been helped by the attacks from some mainstream media outlets, which Bethencourt agrees are biased, given most of their advertisers still sell animal-based products, meaning they can’t be too critical. “In an era of AI and information warfare from both nation states through to large incumbents, we all have to think more independently and question everything,” he implores.
The Wild Earth CEO says the plant-based industry can learn a lot from the likes of Tesla, which launched with a premium line and has since aggressively increased product benefits and lowered prices. “People will want to buy tasty, healthier and cost-competitive products – we just have to push our industry harder to deliver on these, and that’s a hard challenge for us all,” he notes.
Going back to the media aspect, Tesla – a company that’s “probably the most hated by mainstream media” – is doing “an incredible amount of good”, despite governments and petrochemical giants being against it, according to Bethencourt: “They continue to win market share by focusing on innovation, their customers, and making better and increasingly more cost-competitive products.”
One company that’s doing it right in his eyes is Chile’s AI-led vegan startup NotCo. “From day one, Matias [Muchnik], their founder and CEO, has always said tastier products, healthier products and better-priced products will win, and they have all across Latin America.” (Most recently, the company’s collaboration with The Kraft Company bore fruit to a vegan version of the latter’s iconic boxed mac and cheese).
Wild Earth will launch cat food and a Basics line for dogs
Courtesy: Wild Earth
Since raising the half a million from Cuban on Shark Tank, Wild Earth has managed to release 14 products, feed tens of thousands of dogs, launch online and in retail nationwide, and sell over $42M worth of vegan dog food, treats and supplements. In the company’s early days, it was able to grow revenue by 25-50%, and last year, that figure crossed $10M. This year, the target is $15M, though the focus is on cost-efficient growth, keeping in mind the precarious economic landscape.
Its D2C business remains its most successful sales channel. “One of the hardest things for us was transforming from an R&D organization to a commercial organisation,” says Bethencourt. “It’s hard for any company but particularly for a mission-based company we’ve had to learn a lot of lessons, staying true to our mission means being effective and scaling sales.”
Now, Wild Earth is looking to expand into retail and diversify its product portfolio by launching a new cat food SKU, as well as an essential Basics line. The latter – set to launch later this year – will provide a lower-cost entry point for vegan pet food to cater to a wider audience. The company also hopes to return to India and Asia (where it was selling pre-pandemic), and enter Europe and Canada – international expansion is on the cards for 2025.
People aren't ready for us to turn carnivore cats vegan but I'm going to do it, it's e/acc after all
“We’re very optimistic about the future for plant-based pet food and think the first plant-based food boom and bust (for us and our pets) was just the end of the beginning of market adoption,” predicts Bethencourt, who foresees continued growth in the sector over the next decade.
“One of our guiding principles at Wild Earth is to be bold and push the pet industry to change,” he says. “We did this when we launched our plant-based dog food, treats and supplements, we’re doing that again with our vegan cat products and we’ll challenge ourselves again in the future to grow the space for cell-based meat to end the use of factory-farmed animals in pet food.
“It’s hard, but it’s something we believe is important to do for the world we want to see in the future.”
This Valentine’s Day, couples from Kalamazoo to Key West have a world of choices at their fingertips when it comes to decadent vegan sweet treats that show some love to animals, too. From Kirsch-marinated cherries to sumptuous red velvet cake, PETA’s picks are all approved by Cupid—and chickens and cows. That’s because they’re made with vegan butter and dairy-free milk instead of cow’s milk meant for baby cows and vegan egg replacements instead of eggs from hens who are killed once they’re no longer useful to the industry.
Here are our top treats to surprise your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day, available for shipping nationwide:
This vegan and gluten-free red velvet wonder features a decadent custard filling with a vanilla bean frosting covered with red, white, and pink Valentine’s sprinkles.
We heart this elegant two-layer cake, which has a light, sugar-free vegan buttercream and is garnished with fresh berries, chocolates, and egg-free macarons. Order the small size to share with your love, or opt for the larger size if you’re throwing a Galentine’s celebration.
With flavors like Salted Caramel, Pistachio-White Chocolate, and Strawberry-Rose, this assortment of French macarons is sure to impress. And since they’re made without eggs, you know they’re chicken-friendly.
Maya’s Cookies makes great gifts for any celebration, and its Valentine’s Collection is no exception. This box includes three flavors of vegan cookies: Chocolate Covered Strawberry, Double Chocolate Sweetheart, and Classic Chocolate Chip.
Each single-serve “minikin” is filled with layers of rose-tinted vanilla cake and homemade strawberry filling and topped with a vegan cream cheese frosting.
These Vegan Cordial Cherries are the classic Valentine’s choice, with Kirsh-marinated cherries draped in a rich dark chocolate. They’re classy and simple, and they come wrapped in a gift box tied with a ribbon.
If your lover can’t get enough chocolate, this box is for them. It features five varieties of rich vegan chocolate truffles, including “milk” fudge, raspberry, coffee, Grand Marnier, and salted caramel.
For the ultimate variety, choose this box from Divine Treasures Chocolates, which features 30 artisan chocolate creations, from caramels to dark ganache.
This box of 25 bite-size cupcakes features six sweet vegan flavors: Vegan Strawberry, Vegan Dark Chocolate Coconut, Vegan Triple Chocolate Chip, Vegan Vanilla Chocolate Cup, Vegan Maple Cinnamon Bun, and Vegan Peanut Butter.
With eight cookie flavors to choose from, you can’t go wrong with Uncle Eddie’s. Plus, $2 of every bag is donated to help PETA’s vital work for animals.
What’s the sweetest thing you can do this Valentine’s Day? Go vegan, of course! Learn more about how you can make the change and spare the lives of many animals:
(@themodernvegan)
