The fourth annual Dairy Free Awards, which highlight and showcase the best of New Zealand's available plant-based dairy alternatives are announced today. The Awards cover six categories of products: ice cream, milk, cream, desserts, yoghurt and butter, all fully plant-based, high quality, delicious and nutritious. No one needs to go without their favourite foods, as the plant-based market keeps on developing new and better products and growing exponentially.

These days Kiwi consumers are acutely aware of the environmental consequences of their choices, with many product nominees based on oats, though coconut was also very popular. The top ice creams were both on a stick, proving that Kiwis love to eat on the go, the Magnum Almond Dairy Free was a clear winner, with the Kapiti Chocolate Boysenberry a close run second.

“There were 37 different ice cream flavours nominated! It's wonderful to see the increasing number of dairy-free products out there, proving the market is booming and the public's appetite for plant-based is growing. Our Awards set a high bar for companies to step up to, providing quality Kiwi products available to all.” said Claire Insley, media spokesperson for the Vegan Society.

“The winners are delighted to be shown they are the nation’s favourite! We encourage more companies to offer great NZ produced plant-based foods. As a nation we need to be more self-sufficient and there is no reason we cannot grow all our own plants for these fabulous products,”

Meanwhile for the plant milks, Boring Oat again produced a winner with their deliciously creamy Barista Oat and runner up was their Boring Oat Milk! Not boring at all for this Kiwi company. Raglan Food Company were also top favourites again in the Yoghurt category, winner was their yummy Vanilla Bean, whilst the Natural came second. Another year of winning under the belt for Takapuna company Vutter, who won the Butter category, with Olivani original coming a close runner up.

New to the Dairy Free Awards were the Dessert and Cream categories. Little Island came out top with their delicious Cashew Cream

Old hands, European favourite, Alpro came in second with their Soy Cream Single. The time has come for vegan desserts to receive their own category, to mark the number of delicious and dairy-free alternatives there are in all spheres of food produce. Damn Good Food Co were the winners with their delicious Salted Caramel, a damn fine dessert, if ever there was one! Sara Lee brand Joy were the runners up with their amazing Key Lime Pie

Kiwis overwhelmingly support locally produced foods, so it’s no surprise most of the award winners were well loved Kiwi brands. With the recent devastating storms hitting the North Island and more to come, we must act now to mitigate our carbon emissions.

Eating plant-based meals can reduce our carbon footprint due to food by up to 73%, so there is no better time for us to do our bit for our planet and make the switch in FebNoDairy. The Vegan Society offers resources for those wishing to take up plant-based eating to help the environment, improve their health and show compassion for the animals.

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