Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Tuesday 4 July 2017
Vegan Ice Cream is Nice Cream Thanks to Creamier Bases

By LEANNE ITALIE tion drive, broke out at Ben
Associated Press & Jerry stores around the
NEW YORK (AP) — Nice country on free cone day
cream: It’s what they call three years ago.
vegan ice cream. But with Haagen-Dazs also recently
creamier bases and more introduced four non-dairy
interesting flavors, it’s not ice creams including mo-
just for vegans anymore. cha chocolate cookie.
Dairy-free ice cream op- “This is no longer just about
tions have come a long a small group of people,”
way thanks in part to meat- Wilmette said. “More and
eating folk looking to avoid more people are adding
dairy or just make healthier these types of products into
choices without defaulting their lifestyle.”
to sorbet, the usual substi- Carver Audain, 36, a vege-
tute. tarian for 24 years, doesn’t
Though banana is a pop- have much of a sweet
ular base for vegan ice tooth but enjoys Van Leeu-
cream, so are nut butters, wen’s unusual flavors.
rice, soy and even hemp “I don’t know that I neces-
milk. sarily stay away from dairy
Whatever the base, the but if I have an option of
texture and quality of ingre- trying something otherwise
dients are giving the prod- In this June 21, 2017 photo, three flavors of vegan ice cream - from left, Planet Earth, Matcha or avoiding it I will,” he said
ucts a higher profile, both Green Tea, and Toasted Coconut Brownie Sundae - are on display at a Van Leeuwen shop in the at a Van Leeuwen shop in
in scoop shops and on gro- Brooklyn borough of New York. Van Leeuwen serves both dairy and non-dairy artisan ice cream Brooklyn while eating tur-
cery shelves. at five shops in New York and three in Los Angeles — and business is booming. meric and matcha green
(AP Photo/Michael Noble Jr.)
“I love, love, love ice cream tea vegan ice cream.
but I can’t eat it every day, bit of a stomach issue with Vegan and vegetarian cui-
you know,” said meat-eat- soy. That was always a bit sine in general is enjoying
er Alexis Druyan, 24, on a of a stumbling block, but I a higher profile with chefs
recent stop at Chloe’s Soft ate a lot of Tofutti Cuties,” and restaurant owners.
Serve Fruit Co., a scoop the ice cream sandwiches “There are a lot more op-
shop in Manhattan’s bus- that helped launch vegan tions and it makes it more
tling Union Square. “If I want ice cream treats. feasible for many people
to be healthy, I definitely Within the last decade, to consider an alternative
come here for dessert.” Lane said, “we’ve started diet,” Audain said.
The Instagram-worthy neon to see more companies Ronen Seri, co-founder of
light banana on Chloe’s emerging, more startups, two vegan restaurants in
wall says it all: Started by a and a lot of companies Manhattan named Blos-
fro-yo addict looking for a that already existed start- som, has been vegan since
healthier choice, the shop ing to offer alternatives to the mid-1990s and recently
uses only fruit, water and soy. Now we have every- published “The Blossom
a touch of organic cane This June 20, 2017 photo shows a cup of vegan mango soft thing from coconut-based Cookbook” with business
sugar to blend up creamy serve with blackberries at Chloe’s Soft Serve Fruit Co., in to almond to cashew, and partner Pamela Elizabeth.
frozen treats like dark choc- New York. A new generation of dairy-free vegan ice cream even big companies like Their restaurants’ desserts
olate and pumpkin. varieties features creamier bases and more interesting flavors Ben & Jerry’s are offering include a vegan gelato,
Chloe’s opened its first shop that appeal to vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters alike. an almond ice cream. To Cashewtopia, from a com-
in 2010, and now sells fro- (AP Photo/Michael Noble Jr.) me that’s so powerful, to pany called Organic Nec-
zen pops in supermarkets are vegan, Ben Van Leeu- raw cocoa butter from Ec- see large companies em- tars. It’s free of dairy, soy,
and to hospitals, schools wen serves up dairy and uador, raw extra virgin co- bracing vegan and lac- refined sugar, gluten and
and hotels. non-dairy ice cream at conut oil and organic cane tose-intolerant customers. It trans fat in a raw cashew
“The vegan thought pro- five shops in New York and sugar.” really shows how far we’ve base.
cess and connotation has three in Los Angeles — and Van Leeuwen’s vegan fla- come.” Vegan “used to be like a
changed over the last business is booming. vors come in classic and Dena Wilmette, senior in- foreign word,” Seri said.
seven years,” said Michael “Our customers asked for it. exotic varieties, including novation and communi- “People used to think you
Sloan, CEO and co-found- From day one we didn’t a bright blue Planet Earth, cations manager for Ben were eating lettuce.
er of Chloe’s. “When we want the vegan ice cream made with almond, spiru- & Jerry’s in Burlington, Ver- We get so many people
first opened and something to be an afterthought or lina and matcha tea cake. mont, said the company coming here who are not
was vegan, it couldn’t a supplement to our regu- In upstate New York, C.A. had already begun to vegans at all and when
be good, and now I think lar menu,” he said of his Lane recalls darker days research vegan options they taste the food they’re
we’ve helped explain that Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice of vegan ice cream. She when protests demand- like, ‘Wow, I didn’t know it
food can be delicious and Cream. blogs as the Duchess of ing them, fueled by a peti- could taste that good.’”
oh, by the way, it’s vegan. “We applied the same Vegan after transitioning 15
We used to hide that we commitment to using the years ago from vegetarian
were vegan or say it just for best quality ingredients and to vegan.
the vegans who wanted to using little or no stabilizers. “It’s changed so much,”
see it was for vegans. Now We make the vegan ice she said. “When I started,
we promote that it’s veg- cream with house-made most of the ice cream op-
an.” raw cashew and almond, tions were mostly soy based
While all Chloe’s offerings organic coconut cream, and I’ve always had a little