Costco’s Ice Cream Sandwiches, Better Butterbeer, and More Vegan Food News of the Week 

It seems that every week in the world of vegan food news is more exciting than the last and this week is no exception. New oat milk ice cream sandwiches from GoodPop just landed in bulk buys of 15 at Costco stores in Los Angeles. In more ice cream news, a new “Veggies You Crave” menu just launched at West Coast chain Salt & Straw. New vegan jerky from South Korean brand Unlimeat is here for your late summer snacking needs. And Butterbeer can officially be ordered vegan at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort. Read on for more. 

1GoodPop’s vegan ice cream sandwiches at Costco

Ice cream brand GoodPop—known for its popsicles—is branching out into its first vegan ice cream sandwiches. Its Chocolate Vanilla Sandwiches are made with oat milk as the ice cream base and first launched in April at retailers such as Whole Foods Market, HEB, and Sprouts. This week, bulk packs of GoodPop’s vegan ice cream sandwiches became exclusively available in 15-count boxes for $11.99 at Los Angeles area Costco locations. 

Good Pop

“We saw an opportunity to recreate the cult classic ice cream sandwiches like the ones we grew up with, but with cleaner ingredients that are more delicious and better for people and the planet,” GoodPop founder and CEO Daniel Goetz said in a statement. And since the brand is built around doing good, GoodPop encourages people to make pledges to do good deeds through its Pledge Good Foundation and it will donate $1 to charity for every pledge received. 

Also new at Costco this week are Field + Farmer’s Fresh Snack Bars. These vegan snack bars are made with real fruit, get their protein from things like peanut butter and pumpkin seeds, and are sweetened with low-glycemic coconut sugar. Available in a 12-pack assortment with Apple Pie, Carrot Cake, and Peanut Butter & Jelly flavors, the new snack bars can be found at Costco locations in 14 states across the Midwest. 

2Salt & Straw explores vegetables in ice cream

Available from today until September 2, the late summer menu at Salt & Straw is highlighting vegetables in its new featured flavors. Called “Veggies You Crave,” the shop’s flavor gurus used an array of veggies such as roasted carrots, spinach, and fennel to craft five unique flavors, one of which is vegan. 

Salt & Straw

The Red Chili Curry & Makrut Lime Crispy Rice flavor highlights the spicy and tangy flavors found in Southeast Asian curries and is made with chillies, lemongrass, ginger, and spices that are roasted together with a splash of makrut lime (also known as “kaffir lime”) juice and mixed into coconut cream. The unique flavor comes topped off with handfuls of crispy rice florentine cookies loaded with makrut lime. This flavor is available at the shop’s West Coast locations and as part of a $65 combo pack of pints that includes the non-vegan flavors. 

The Salt & Straw menu, in store and as pints, always features several vegan flavors which increase during its Vegandulgence celebration in the winter. 

3Harry Potter’s Butterbeer goes vegan 

Visitors to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort can finally order their cold or frozen Butterbeer sans topping—which means the popular non-alcoholic beverage can be made completely vegan. 

Previously, the dairy-based whip could not be left off the drink due to licensing agreements with the Harry Potter franchise owner Warner Bros. However, a campaign organized by Harry Potter-inspired fangroup The Protego Foundation (TPF) spearheaded a campaign calling for vegan-friendly Butterbeer. 

Supported by vegan actress Evanna Lynch—who played Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter films—TPF’s petition gained enough traction to push for the change. “Cheers and thank you to everyone who signed our petition and helped us make this happen,” TPF posted about the victory on social media. “The next step is a full Butterbeer experience, complete with a dairy-free whipped topping.”

This Harry Potter attraction in Orlando joins the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter attraction in serving vegan-friendly Butterbeer. Last year, the Harry Potter flagship store in New York City also added vegan-friendly Butterbeer in bottles and on tap. 

4New meatless jerky

Unlimeat is a South Korean plant-based meat brand that’s making its way to the United States. Known for its tender vegan bulgogi meats, Unlimeat recently entered a new category with plant-based jerky made chewy and tender with its proprietary texturizing technology. Unlimeat uses  beet and pomegranate to color its plant-based jerky and citrus extract as the preservative. 

The Korean brand made its vegan jerky available through Amazon after a wildly successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter where it hit its target goal in less than three hours and surpassed its goal by 1,035 percent in one month. 

Unlimeat

“We’d heard that it would be difficult to reach even $10,000 funding in food categories from Kickstarter, which usually showcases tech products,” a representative from Unlimeat said in a statement. “We’re quite thrilled to have broken market expectations by receiving more than $30,000 in funding, especially because our product is plant-based, making it a smaller subdivision of the broader market. We hope that our product, which has now successfully begun sales in the USA, becomes even more popular on Amazon.” 

Unlimeat Jerky is now available on Amazon in Korean BBQ and Smoky flavors in boxes of 6 packs each priced at $19.97.

5Jackfruit meat pops up at Kale My Name

If you’re in the Chicago area tomorrow, we suggest you head down to Kale My Name, a vegan restaurant with a Los Angeles location that is owned by vegan superstar Tabitha Brown. On August 6, Kale My Name will be hosting a pop-up to sample free vegan dishes prepared with jack & annie’s jackfruit-based meats. 

Kale My Name

The small dishes featured at the pop-up will include Smoky Jack Pulled Pork Sliders served with homemade coleslaw and Crispy Jack Nugget Tacos served with pico de gallo, kale, and housemade chipotle aioli sauce. 

“At Kale My Name, it’s our goal to provide all of our guests, vegan, vegetarian, and flexitarian alike, with creative and delicious plant-based meals,” Nemanja Golubovic, Owner and CEO of Kale My Name, told VegNews. “When jack & annie’s approached us about a collaboration, we couldn’t resist! We’re excited to provide our Chicago community a taste of jack & annie’s innovative foods to show everyone how scrumptious and meaty jackfruit products can be.” 

Reservations can be made here through OpenTable and the pop-up will run from 11am to 10pm or while supplies last. 

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