Alcoholic Beverages

Creamura Tequila

Image: Creamura Tequila on LinkedIn
Beverages

Cremaura Offers “Delightful and Guilt-Free” Vegan Tequila Liqueurs

Cremaura Tequila is a new UK brand offering plant-based tequila cream liqueurs. The products are also gluten-free, with the aim of being inclusive for everyone. The liqueurs are available in four flavours — rose, orange, café, and chocolate — with more additions reportedly coming soon. The beverages feature sustainable packaging, including recycled glass bottles, sugar cane heat seals, and recyclable cardboard. Cremaura recently announced a partnership with leading West Midlands drinks wholesaler Swallow Wholesale Drinks Solutions, and has reported growing interest from other wholesalers. For Valentine’s Day, the company partnered with Bolicious Vegan Chocolates to offer a range of chocolate liqueurs in the flavours hazelnut, tiramisu, orange, and dark rose gianduja. Despite being a relatively new brand, Cremaura is already available at various bar groups, …

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Panther M*lk plant-based cocktails

© Panther M*lk
Beverages

Panther M*lk Offers Plant-Based Cocktails Made With Oat Milk After Dragons’ Den Appearance

UK company Panther M*lk produces plant-based cocktails similar to cream liqueur, using oat milk made by Minor Figures. The product is based on the potent Spanish drink leche de pantera (which translates to “panther milk”), created in the 1920s and made from alcohol mixed with condensed milk. After founder Paul Crawford discovered the beverage while visiting Barcelona, he opened a popup Panther Milk Bar in his hometown of Glasgow, serving the traditional dairy-based version of the drink. The bar proved so popular that it remained open for over four years, rather than the intended three months. Eventually, Crawford decided to make the drink more widely available by launching a brand. To improve its sustainability, he switched the cow’s milk to oat milk. Panther M*lk is …

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White Mushrooms

Photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash
Beverages

Revolutionary Vegan Fining Agent: Chinova Bioworks Harnesses the Humble Button Mushroom to Transform the Beverage Market

Chinova Bioworks, a food technology company based in Canada, unveils MycoKleer™, an innovative vegan clarifying and fining agent designed for beverage production. This sustainably produced solution aims to revolutionize the industry by enhancing the efficiency of the beverage clarification process, thereby saving valuable time, energy, and money. Chinova claims that MycoKleer™ is a game-changer in the pursuit of eco-friendly and cost-effective beverage manufacturing. Created from upcycled white button mushrooms, MycoKleer™ is a vegan, clean-label, self-affirmed GRAS processing aid, offering an all-natural alternative to synthetic or animal-based fining agents for clarifying beverages. It is described as a fast-acting solution that attracts and binds with yeasts, tannins, proteins, and other unwanted particles from a variety of beverages such as juice, coffee, tea, cider, seltzer, beer, and wine. …

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Protein-boosted hard juice

© The EVERY Co.
Beverages

Brendan Brazier’s Pulp Culture Partners With EVERY Co. for “World’s First” Protein-Boosted Hard Juice

Functional beverage brand Pulp Culture, co-founded by former endurance athlete Brendan Brazier, has joined forces with The EVERY Co. to launch what it claims is the first ever protein-boosted hard juice. Called BUILD, the “hyper-functional” drink includes probiotics, adaptogens, super fruits, and superfoods, along with 5g of EVERY Protein. It contains 4.9% naturally occurring alcohol and is sugar-free. EVERY Protein EVERY Protein took seven years of R&D to develop and is said to be “nearly invisible”, with a neutral taste and good solubility properties. Previously known as ClearEgg, it is identical to a protein found in egg white. The Pulp Culture launch marks EVERY’s first entry into the alcoholic beverage segment. EVERY Protein is one of three products now offered by the company. The others …

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Chinova Bioworks beer

©Chinova Bioworks

Fungi, Mushrooms & Mycelium

Chinova Bioworks Develops “Game Changing” Vegan Fining Agent Made From Mushrooms

Chinova Bioworks, a Canadian company using fungi to reduce food waste, announces the launch of Mycobrio™ — a mushroom-derived fining agent which can replace synthetic and animal-derived fining agents such as isinglass and gelatin, traditionally used in fermented drinks such as beers and wines. Mycobrio™ is described as a natural extract fiber derived from the stems of white button mushrooms, which serves as a fining agent for the alcoholic and low/non-alcoholic wine, beer, cider, seltzer, and spirits market, and as broad spectrum protection against spoilage caused by yeast, mold, and bacteria. Removing animal ingredients from beverages The newly developed ingredient can be used in the fining of yeast, tannins, proteins, and other matter from beer, wine, cider, and seltzers. It is an advanced natural replacement …

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vodka-infused vegan whipped cream

© Jora Frantzis / Starco Brands

Products & Launches

Hip Hop Artist Cardi B Launches Vodka-Infused Vegan Whipped Cream

Rapper Cardi B has collaborated with brand consultancy Starco Brands to develop vodka-infused vegan whipped cream. It is available in three flavours — caramel, vanilla, and mocha. Called Whipshots, the whipped cream is 10% vodka and is shelf-stable, meaning it can be stored alongside spirits with no need for refrigeration. Starco Brands says it took four years of research and development to perfect the product. Since its launch at the beginning of the month, the vodka-infused vegan whipped cream has already sold out several times, with 500 more cans being made available each day. While Cardi B does not describe herself as vegan, the rapper began eating more plant-based foods while pregnant with her first child in an attempt to be healthier. She also launched …

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Topo Chico

© The Coca-Cola Company
Beverages

Coca Cola’s First Alcoholic Drink – Topo Chico Hard Seltzer – Off To a “Promising Start”

Coca-Cola recently expanded its beverage portfolio with its first alcoholic products in the hard seltzer category – with three vegan flavours of the popular alcoholic mixed drink containing fruit dessert wine and natural flavours. Coca Cola purchased Topo Chico for $220 million in 2017, a brand originally popular in northern Mexico and Texas, and has rolled it out over several markets since the end of last year. Whilst the product is vegan friendly (note that not all Coke products are vegan – such as Lilt, Lilt Zero, Kia-Ora Orange Squash No Added Sugar, Schweppes Indian Tonic Water, Schweppes Orange Squash and Honest, which contain fish gelatine, honey, vitamin D sourced from lanolin in sheep’s wool, or milk) – many ethical vegans may choose not to …

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M&S wines

M&S
Products & Launches

Marks & Spencer Introduces New Range of Vegan and Sustainable Wines

UK retailer Marks & Spencer has launched a new wine collection featuring 12 vegan wines as part of the company’s push to make its wine range 100% vegan by 2022. Named “Found”, the wines were also chosen for their sustainability credentials, with wineries utilising carbon offsetting schemes, organic and biodynamic farming and water management programs. 

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Amanda Thomson of Thomson & Scott LS

Courtesy of Thomson and Scott
Interviews

Thomson & Scott: “Animal Derived Products are Now Taking Over as the Number one Enemy of the Conscious Consumer”

This year saw an explosion of vegan products, as was expected by countless organisations and experts surrounding the industry. One area often overlooked when it comes to vegan products is that of alcoholic beverages. We spoke initially with Thomson & Scott in August of 2018 about their range of vegan wines. Here we have an update from the company about progress over the last year and plans for the year to come.

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go-sake-berlin sake

© Go-Sake
Startups, Accelerators & Incubators

Berlin-Based Startup Brings Vegan Japanese Sake to Germany

Berlin is the German capital of Weg-Bier (“beer for the road”) and exciting new international food trends. It is also the birthplace of the first “Weg-Sake” which will be designed in Germany. The company Go-Sake, founded in 2017, started out with the aim of bringing the Japanese national drink to the attention of Germans and clearing up the prejudices surrounding it.

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