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As a vegan commuter, city snacking is a very important topic. While I often bring my bike for the commute, sometimes I can't or won't, so do not have a huge rucksack with enough space for a pre-prepared day of vegan dining. While you can always find a (shit) vegan supermarket salad of some sort, it's the rest of the day that's the real problem. We all remember the school days of finding your banana squashed all over your schoolbooks. It certainly doesn't have the same charm when you're a 30year old, trying to sound important with a banana mangled over a moleskin.
So far during Vegan March, the only quick snack that has been able to simultaneously satisfy my brain, sweet tooth, budget and portability needs is the mighty 9bar. They're healthy, delicious and give off a marvellous, wholesome feeling as you crunch through them.
I've tried anything that looks remotely sweet and vegan this month with Nakd bars the only other thing coming anywhere near to hitting the spot. The problem is Nakd bars look disgusting and the consistency is vile. They're mushy and feel almost lukewarm, a little like eating baby food for grown ups. Admittedly they do taste good but this newbie vegan still needs to satisfy the mind. I won't be going anywhere near any more baby food unless I'm about to die of a hunger and/ or stealing it from my own baby. Should you want to sample some, you can order some here
Source:http://www.honest-to-goodness.org.uk/index.php/chocolate-sweets-snacks/confectionery/nakd-cocoa-delight-bar-35g.html
The reason this post comes today is that I haven't had a 9bar for a long time as I just never see them anywhere, that is until I found one yesterday in Ground in Hove. I joyously devoured my soya latte with the 9bar, delighted to have been reminded of it's existence and smug in the knowledge that it must be vegan. When you look at the front of the bar you will see every claim know to man; a vegetarian society stamp, gluten free, dairy free, can make you fly etc etc. I even checked the ingredients and saw nothing suspicious.
Before writing a post about 9bar being the best vegan snack in the world I thought I would double check on their website. Again, loads of claims but nothing specific about being vegan. This made me suspicious and start to hate 9bar for being so sneaky, so I wrote a rambling message on their contact page asking whether they were vegan or not. I was not expecting a response so quickly, let alone from the MD! At 7.30am I received the following reply.
So, I'd missed the honey and therefore failed yesterday as a vegan. Damn you 9bar, I was so busy looking for regular sugar and butter that I missed the honey! This post ends on a positive note as overall I still love 9bar. After an email exchange between 9bar bigman and myself I concluded that...
I LOVE 9bar for tasting so amazing,
I HATE 9bar for being made with honey,
I LOVE 9bar for having an MD that responds to idiots himself at 7.30am and....
best news of all...
I LOVE 9bar for having a brand new, fully legal honey-free vegan version in the pipeline. It's expected in all major supermarkets in June, so militant vegans, get ready!
