Vegan food hits Waitrose! (UK)

[RossClement]

Vegan Pesto?

This is of great interest to me as I haven't found a vegan pesto that I've liked very much since Sainsbury's stopped their dairy-free pestos some time ago.

Some of the speciality pestos in Aldi don't have any cheese or other obvious non-vegan ingredients. But I've no idea who to contact to find out if they're vegan.

[Rakey]

As far as I know Meridian pesto (sold in sainsburys & tescos) is vegan

[BlackCats]

I was actually considering looking at Waitrose again for shopping. I did find it expensive but I really liked their food.

Ross - I don't know if Waitrose sells this but I have seen in health food shops, Zest vegan pesto. http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-...to___165g.html Also I think the Sacla aubergine pesto is vegan.

[Stu]

Today I found a bag of Waitrose own brand plain chocolate covered mint fondants which appear to be vegan.

They had a lot of chilled convenience food like fishfingers, thai bites and tofu sausages. Nice to be in a supermarket where at least half of the veggie stuff wasn't quorn based.

I know where I'm going tomorrow. Cheers Maz.

[veganprin]

I miss Waitrose

[RossClement]

Thanks for the pointers. But we have Meridian pesto occasionally, and I have eaten Zest Pesto. But I find both of them a bit bland. They're OK. The Aubergine Pesto is more distinctive, and we have that sometimes too. But that's a different flavour really. So while there are Pestos available, I'm certainly very interested in trying any new brands that might become available. I have also wondered what would happen if I mixed some Scheese into the Meridian or Zest pestos, or added some vinegar to jazz them up a bit.

[RossClement]

I went to a Waitrose today, in Blaby, Leicestershire.

Unfrotunately this small store (biggest around Leicester tho') didn't have many of the specialities mentioned. Pity.

[bradders]

I wrote to the store manager of the Harrogate Sainsburys a while back and got a letter back from him asking if i wanted to do a shop around the store with him to tell him my views! I was too much of a pussy at that point to take up the offer though. BOOOO ME! He said i'd get a discount on my shopping too.

Next time though, next time

I so want to do that

[bradders]

recently I did a cost comparison on a like for like shop tesco v waitrose (both london branches) and on a mixed trolley including some good bread, organic fruit and veg, soya milk, fresh juice, herbs and spices, pure spread , waitrose came out at literally 7p cheaper than tesco £17.89 v £17.82. My only gripe is the lack of the very cheap economy stuff I get from sainsbury's.

[Elahiya]

i can´t believe what i saw earlier at waitrose: redwood´s fish style fingers!

[bradders]

wish I'd known earlier went passed waitrose at the Brunswick twice today

[Elahiya]

at least the one at gloucester road had them

[emzy1985]

i can´t believe what i saw earlier at waitrose: redwood´s fish style fingers!

The Waitrose in the little middle class market town of Hitchin about 12 miles from where I live have been shit hot on vegan food for atleast the last 3years. I tried my first ever "fish" finger from there.

[bradders]

I must remember to go to the Brunswick Waitrose on my way home from Senate House tommorrow

[Rakey]

I went to the Tonbridge Waitrose yesterday.
Thought it was rubbish for vegan food, there was hardly anything there...

[firstandthen]

It might be quite a way for you but the Crowborough one is pretty good I think....

[Rakey]

Oh is it better? I'll be going there then, there's not much between Crowborough and Tonbridge for me. Just found the freefrom section was so small (used to the size of Sainsburys I guess).

[firstandthen]

The one in Crowborough is puny however it does have a selection of Redwoods and Wicken Fen products.

[Linxie]

I must remember to go to the Brunswick Waitrose on my way home from Senate House tommorrow

Ah that brings back memories of many evenings spent in the library at Senate House

They are opening a new Waitrose near where I work soon, hope they stock some vegan products!

[Marrers]

The range of veggie stuff in the branch I usually go to has shrunk dramatically. I think this might be because there's less fridge space available as they have increased the meats for Xmas (or at least it looked like it, they have also moved things around so I may be wrong). Nothing except Quorn and Cauldron stuff.

[Troutina]

It might be quite a way for you but the Crowborough one is pretty good I think....

I'm from Crowborough!
Used to work in that Waitrose too!

[firstandthen]

^ You're kidding me?! Wow, thats so cool! Did you used to go to Beacon?

[Troutina]

^ You're kidding me?! Wow, thats so cool! Did you used to go to Beacon?

No I went to St. Gregs in Tunbridge Wells!
Are you from Crowborough too!?
SMALL WORLD!

[firstandthen]

Yep, I'm a Crowborough girl, born and bred!

Haha, this is so weird. Do you not live in the area any more?

[Troutina]

Yep, I'm a Crowborough girl, born and bred!

Haha, this is so weird. Do you not live in the area any more?

That's such a strange coincidence!
No my parents still live there but I live in Kingston now, for uni.

[Rakey]

Is everyone on this forum from Kent/East Sussex? Lol!

[firstandthen]

^ Obviously a vegan hotspot!

troutina you're not missing much in crowborough. trust me

[bradders]

Nope I'm Irish and a northerner living in East London

[Linxie]

What are your favourite vegan buys from Waitrose? The new shop opens tomorrow in Islington, I have high hopes for some nice vegan food.

[harpy]

The one here has those Taifun frankfurters made with tofu. They also have some vegan wines but it's better to identify them on their online wine shop first as the assistants don't know which they are.

I can't think of anything else specifically vegan that I buy in there but I think it's a good shop as supermarkets go.

[Ruby Rose]

I buy the same frankfurters that Harpy mentions, also sometimes VegiDeli chicken-style pieces or Thai fish-style cakes. They have some "Dressed to Impress" pestos which are vegan (aubergine and black olive for example). I like the Millers Damsel fancy-pants crackers once in a while, and the different flavoured olive oils for dipping bread are good value. They usually have method cleaning stuff in my local Waitrose and a vegan washing powder - can't remember the name, it's little pouches in a black tub. You can get plain Cheezly in my local Waitrose too, but I tend to buy mine from the health food shop where there's a better selection.

[harpy]

My OH likes that washing powder, which seems to be called Simply Active Eco-Smart. Was only thinking about food

I have seen Redwood ersatz fish fingers in there, not sure if they still do them though, as like RR I tend to buy those things in the health food shop if at all.

[bradders]

I think I need to get to a really big waitrose sometime. The one at Canary Wharf just doesn't seem to have all of these things and neither does the one at the Brunsweick in Bloomsbury.

[Jiffy]

I must be unlucky, Waitrose start flogging vegan stuff and guess what, the Waitrose I used to go to has burnt down!

[harpy]

Oh noes I must admit I would be a bit upset if ours burned down.

[Gorilla]

i picked up some lovely Waitrose own-brand curry at the weekend, i think one was a chana masala and one was a daal of some sort. i also bought Redwood Thai 'fishcakes' and some chicken-style pieces.

[cedarblue]

my local one is too small to do vegan frankfurters, fishless fingers etc. they used to do the fingers in welwyn garden city but stopped. they used to do the frankfurters in cambridge but i haven't been to that one for a while. i'll have to ask my husband to pop in there and look for them again soon.

[gutts]

Good to hear that Waitrose are vegan-friendly amongst the big supermarkets. I've been using Ocado for quite a while now, and noticed that since Waitrose launched their own Waitrose Deliver service, that they label products as not only Vegetarian, but also Vegan. "Your search results for: vegan (1386)"

In light of this, I'm talking to Ocado (since their primary supplier is Waitrose) to see if they can replicate the information from their supplier into their own product database. If anyone else uses Ocado please make similar requests!

gutts

ps. Waitrose Wine also label some of their wines vegan.

[Rakey]

Vegan Pizza!? No way!!! I just saw online their antipasto pizza is vegan. So are their bases. Find me a waitrose quick!!

[moongravy]

Vegan Pizza!? No way!!! I just saw online their antipasto pizza is vegan. So are their bases. Find me a waitrose quick!!

The pizza is excellent - highly recommended.

[Troutina]

The pizza is excellent - highly recommended.

It really is! Comes with a little bottle of oil, a super treat!

[bradders]

ooh wow vegan pizza from a supermarket. I' gonna be poor

[cobweb]

i used to live right by a Waitrose, probably a good job there's not one in Orkney or i'd be skint, too Bradders (even more skint than i actually am!)

[Troutina]

It's quite pricey, 5 pounds. They also do a frozen pizza base which doesn't have cheese, which is a bit cheaper. I work in a pizza shop, free pizza haha.

[Rakey]

ahhh I had the vegan pizza last night. I think i'm gonna write an email to Waitrose telling them it's the best thing they've ever done (expensive tho )

[Buddha Belly]

We tried to find it in Stevenage's Waitros to no avail. We came away with Tofu Weiners though. Is the pizza worth the money?

[Rakey]

It's worth it when you don't have the time to make your own dough from scratch.
Delicious, quick and easy.
They should have it, it's in a black box, but if you go on waitrose delivery website they have it there

[Hekaterine]

Just typed "vegan" into their website and got 1370 items! Including the antipasti pizza! Off to have a browse

[everdream]

By the way, waitrose has special offers on Alpro soya products at the moment, the soymilk is two for £2, as are their yogurts (all varieties, in the fridge section)

I don't go to waitrose very often, it's a tad on the pricey side, but they do have some interesting items you can't get in other places.

[Blue moon]

Has anyone contacted Waitrose customer service? I did, never even the courtesy of a reply.

I can only say, anyone in Bristol don't bother with the branch in Clifton that has replaced Fresh & Wild health store. Might as well call Waitrose "Meats R Us", even vegetarians get a poor show in that store! I had such high hopes too