Ghirardelli Chocolate, Oatly’s Pumpkin Soft Serve, 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. Oatly’s soft serve gets a fall makeover with a new pumpkin spice flavor at 16 Handles. Ghirardelli is getting into non-dairy chocolate chips just in time for baking season. Van Leeuwen is releasing an exclusive vegan flavor with Sprouts that’s three desserts rolled into one. Read on for more. 

1Ghirardelli’s new non-dairy baking chips

We’re going to bet this baking season will be one for the books. That’s because Ghirardelli just released new plant-based chocolate chips that we can imagine using in many cookies, loaves, and pancakes this holiday season. 

Ghirardelli

Among its chocolate-making peers—some of which are going completely vegan—Ghirardelli is a holdout in offering non-dairy chocolate but that all changes with its new chips. The new Non-Dairy Dark Chocolate Baking Chips feature a 52 percent cocoa content and can be found in the baking aisle for a suggested retail price of $5.99 per bag.  

“We’re continuing to look for ways to innovate in the baking chocolate category that meet consumers’ evolving preferences and introduce products that everyone can enjoy,” Megan Wright, Marketing Director at Ghirardelli, said in a statement.

“Consumers looking to reduce their dairy intake, or for plant-based chocolate options, can now turn to Ghirardelli’s new Non-Dairy Dark Chocolate Baking Chips to make their delicious treats a bite better.”

2Killer brownies

With Halloween around the corner, the Killer Brownie Co. sounds like it means business. And this year, the Ohio-based company is launching its first vegan brownies, starting in wholesale and foodservice this fall and then expanding them to consumers in Spring 2023. 

Killer Brownie Co.

“The plant-based brownie has been years in the making, and ingredient shortages over the last couple of years forced us to reinvent this product several times,” Julia Hoy, Director of Product Management at the Killer Brownie Co., said in a statement. “But we were finally able to develop a plant-based brownie that had the texture and flavor we liked, and then we tweaked it a little more to make it a brownie we loved.” 

The new vegan brownies are made with creamy oat milk and are finished with semi-sweet chocolate chips and a generous sprinkling of sea salt.

“We are thrilled to introduce a new audience to the delightful Killer Brownie experience and hope that we will be able to expand our plant-based line in the future,” Hoy said. 

3Van Leeuwen’s new flavor

From Peanut Butter Brownie Honeycomb to Churros & Fudge, ice cream brand Van Leeuwen is doing the most when it comes to its vegan flavors. This week, the New York-based brand launched its first exclusive flavor, Vegan Banana Bread Pudding, made in collaboration with Sprouts Farmers Markets.  

Van Leeuwen

Is it banana bread? Is it pudding? It’s all of that and more (as in, it’s also vegan ice cream). The base here is oat milk with a banana-forward flavor that is swirled with fudge. The pint is the first to launch in several exclusives Van Leeuwen is working on with Sprouts, which include non-vegan novelty bars. 

“Sprouts has been an amazing partner to Van Leeuwen the past few years, so we couldn’t be more excited to be launching a new pint flavor and two new ice cream bars exclusively in Sprouts stores,” Ben Van Leeuwen, co-founder and CEO of Van Leeuwen, said in a statement. “Sprouts has always been known as the grocery chain that carries brands that truly care about the ingredients it’s sharing with customers, so we feel exceptionally honored that Sprouts has given us the opportunity to launch new products exclusively in its stores.”

“We also wanted to put a unique twist on another nostalgic treat, Banana Bread Pudding, but create this as a vegan flavor,” Van Leeuwen said. “We love providing top-quality ice cream for all, so we are thrilled to be offering vegans another delicious flavor to add to their freezers.”

The new Vegan Banana Bread Pudding pint is available at 390 Sprouts locations across 23 states. 

4Oatly’s pumpkin soft serve

It’s strange to think that pumpkin spice season has been in full swing for more than a month but if you’re craving just a little more of that classic fall flavor, head over to 16 Handles where a new offering from Oatly will tickle your PSL proclivities. 

16 Handles

“We are excited to introduce this Pumpkin Spice non-dairy soft-serve flavor in all of our stores this fall,” 16 Handles CEO Neil Hershman said in a statement. “Pumpkin is always one of our most popular seasonal flavors, and partnering with Oatly on this all-new recipe is the perfect way to start the season.”

The new flavor is the latest in a long-standing collaboration between Oatly and 16 Handles, which shows up on the menu as seasonal flavors such as Chocolate Cake and Marshmallow and S’mores offered this summer.  

First opened in 2008, the soft-serve shop now operates 30 locations across five states. The pumpkin spice flavor is available for a limited time through October—which is enough time for you to get your PSL fix and move on to peppermint.

4Dr. Bronner’s peppermint (chocolate and soap)

Speaking of peppermint, Dr. Bronner’s just expanded its chocolate line with a flavor that might look super familiar. That’s because it’s new chocolate flavor is Cool Peppermint Cream and the wrapper matches the label on its similar soap offering to the tee.

Dr. Bronner’s

“Peppermint is synonymous with both my grandfather and the company he founded. So, it was natural for us to add Cool Peppermint Cream to our Magic All-One Chocolate line,” Michael Bronner, President of Dr. Bronner’s., said in a statement.

“The taste of the smooth, sweet caramel-colored peppermint filling in each bar, made with coconut sugar instead of cane sugar, is pure nostalgia,” Bronner says. “We offer this flavor as yet another example of delicious vegan chocolate, ethically sourced from regenerative organic and fair-trade supply chains.”

Since 1948, Dr. Bronner’s has been making its iconic soap with ethically sourced ingredients. In 2021, the brand expanded its “all-one” philosophy to its first chocolate line and works with partner farmers in Ghana to improve the health and productivity of palm and cacao trees, which provide the raw ingredients for its soap and chocolate lines, respectively. 

The new flavor joins six existing flavors of Dr. Bronner’s chocolate: Roasted Whole Hazelnuts, Salted Dark, Crunchy Hazelnut Butter, Salted Whole Almonds, Salted Whole Almonds, and Smooth Coconut Praline. 

Dr. Bronner’s

Fair warning: If you’re a regular Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap user and like a little chocolate snack in the tub, make sure you keep the two very far apart from each other.