Most of us, your Valentine likely included, have been inspired by 2020 to live life a little more consciously, healthfully, ethically and mindfully. For many, this has included living a more vegan lifestyle or extending Veganuary into February. Conveniently, many of 2021’s tastiest, giftable treats are vegan-friendly. From fancy vegan truffles ordered by SMS to Goldbelly’s many vegan offerings including a decadent vegan cheeseboard to a brand-new vegan ice cream made from animal-free whey protein, the following are the tastiest vegan food gifts for Valentine’s Day.
Chances are unlikely that your Valentine regularly grabs a bottle of $35 white-truffle hot sauce off of the Whole Foods shelf. Chances are likely that if they like truffles, they will love this $35 white truffle hot sauce. It was on Oprah’s Favorite Things list in 2019 if you need the endorsement of endorsements before ordering. Or try the less expensive, just-as-delicious black truffle versions of truff hot sauce (one is hot, the other is hotter) or the new pasta sauces. All are decadent, beautifully packaged in gift boxes and an unexpected treat for the savory-loving vegan foodie.
Compartes
As a native Angeleno, I grew up treasuring small, gorgeously packaged chocolate Compartes gifts from my grandmother. In recent years, Compartes has dialed up the cool-kid branding, dialed in national shipping and developed a celeb and influencer fanbase for their wide-ranging chocolate gifts. While many of Compartes’ chocolate confections are not vegan, the label offers vegan chocolate in many forms: bars, truffles, chocolate hearts, chocolate-dipped matzah and my personal favorite, chocolate-dipped apricots.
If you’re shopping for a valentine who lives for ice cream and has yet to find a favorite non-dairy option? Brave Robot is a next-gen vegan ice cream option that’s made with Perfect Day,an animal-free whey protein (crazy, I know). The protein used is identical to the whey protein found in animal milk, but without the use of a single cow. Brave Robot comes in a number of flavors from Blueberry Pie and Vanilla to Hazlenut Chocolate Chunk and Chocolate, and is sold at Safeway, Vons, Bristol Farms and more, as well as DTC.
Known for their traditional charcuterie and cheese boards, which have become a number one seller on Goldbelly, Florida-based, fiercely artisanal and small-batch cheeserie CheeseBoarder has created what appears to be the first, ready-made and shippable vegan cheese and charcuterie board. Enclosed are two housemade vegan cheeses (a heart-shaped dark chocolate strawberry brie and a lavender cashew cheese), gluten-free crackers, vegan bacun, truffle Marcona almonds, dark-chocolate-covered almonds and many more Vday noshes. For set up, just unwrap the boxed items and lay out on the enclosed bamboo tray.
If you’re gifting a Valentine from afar, or you’re not yet totally sure of their preferences, a new gifting concierge app called Goody is an easy way to gift Dada’s beautiful, vegan truffles from your phone without address or payment needed upfront. The giftee receives an SMS letting them know that they have been gifted, and can input their own address and choose to accept a box of vegan truffles or request something else from the Goody app if they prefer something different.
If you’re reading this on Valentine’s Day morning from a major metropolitan area wondering how to secure a sweet vegan treat delivery, fast af, it’s totally possible. Here’s a short list of the items carried by two-hour-delivery app Fast AF: artisanal coffee beans by Canyon Coffee, preciously packaged olive oil by Brightland and Flanimgo Estate, ceremonial grade matcha by Matcha Kari, an $85 raw manuka honey by Activist, and the above-mentioned TRUFF black truffle hot sauce. Ordering is easy and the curated set of gifts available for purchase in-app are mostly local and all on-trend. In addition to vegan treats, the app also offers self-care gifts, electronics, pantry items and apparel.
