Our spotlight series is back, and this time we want to shine a light on our coconuts! No, not those coconuts! Let’s start that again…🙈
Ingredients, we mean our ingredients. Thanks to their wonderful versatility and oh so creamy texture, coconuts are used in a whole range of vegan products; from deliciously thick yoghurts to velvety smooth chocolates, we’ve got a lot to thank them for. Sadly though, not all coconuts are created equal.
No idea what we’re on about? It’s important stuff to us, so please do give it a read. We promise we haven’t gone totally coco-nuts *cue audible groan* so here’s the scoop…
A Tough Nut To Crack 🥥
What’s the problem? For one, harvesting coconuts often involves animal exploitation.
In South Asian countries such as Thailand, pig tailed macaques are often trained to pick the fruits. Not only does this mean that farmers avoid paying labour costs, it means that their harvesting rate is a lot higher (the monkeys are able to pick up to 1,000 coconuts a day vs a human’s ability to pick around 80!). However, macaques at many farms are often captured illegally as babies and cruelly trained to pick fruits in ‘schools’. Most of them suffer in horrible conditions and are kept chained up or left confined to small cages for long periods of time - all causing them extreme stress and suffering.
According to Vegan activist charity Peta, "these curious, highly intelligent animals are denied psychological stimulation, companionship, freedom and everything else that would make their lives worth living, all so that they can be used to gather coconuts.” And this isn’t the only issue when it comes to coconut farming.
No Monkey Business Here!
So, what exactly do we do with so many coconuts?! We use coconut oil in most of our cheeses, but we promise you won’t notice the flavour (unlike in some products, giving vegan cheese a bad name 👀 ). It’s whirled into our Blue, as well as our tangy Ched Spread and soft, garlic-y Herbi. In all of them, it offers an indulgent creaminess that’s hard to beat.
We really hope these insights help, if you’re new to veganism there might be a lot to get your head around and we figure it’s part of our job to let you know what’s going into your cheese and why. It’s incredibly important to us that the coconut oil we source has been certified and approved by The Vegan Society and The Leaping Bunny, meaning we can guarantee our products are not just 100% plant-based (and delicious) but 100% cruelty-free.
Another great reason to go and treat yourself to our full selection… enjoy!
Other Things To Go Nuts For..
Now that your cheese fix is sorted, here’s a few other top coconut products to try that get an A+ from Peta for their monkey friendly ingredients…
- Look no further than The Coconut Collaborative for delicious dairy-free yoghurts and chocolate puds. Find out more about their top-notch sustainability and ethical standards,
- Coco for coconut water?! Check out Harmless Harvest’s Peta-approved range – we’ve got our eye on their watermelon flavour for a seriously tropical cocktail! Find out more, here.
- When it comes to vegan baking, Nature’s Charm has got you covered! Their ethically-sourced coconut milks are available via The Vegan Kind Supermarket; including their condensed milk version… a true coconut-lovers delight!