My initial reaction to the news that Sainsbury’s would be stocking new vegan products in the meat aisle was one of overwhelming cynicism.

In Australia, when a similar idea was tried, the country’s MPs actually hit out at the plan – https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jun/18/not-mincing-words-nationals-denounce-vegetarian-product-in-meat-aisle

The UK saw the move debated on vegan forums, and I was adamant that I didn’t want to go for a walk down the aisle of death – a place I had never actually frequented in my life (I was still living with my parents when I became vegetarian 30 years ago), but I’m not the intended audience for these new products.

It has been well documented that the number of vegans has exploded in the UK and worldwide over the past few years – and, I guess, many of those will miss meat. Therefore, companies have been striving to make vegan products as “meaty” as possible.

Fair enough, but will it tempt meat-eaters back to their old ways? Personally, I doubt it – and maybe that’s the idea behind this – a little bit of compassion in the aisle of death can’t be a bad thing, can it? Many people who turn vegan don’t dislike the taste and texture of meat, they just dislike the fact that living beings are killed unnecessarily in order to provide it – surely, this must cater for such vegans? But will stocking it in the meat aisle alienate long-term vegans? I guess that’s up to the individual, but it is a possibility.

Iceland was the first supermarket here in the UK to introduce a “bleeding” vegan burger with their No Bull patties (https://veganonadesertisland.com/2018/04/09/no-bull-its-a-bloody-vegan-burger/)

Personally, I love the No Bull taste and texture, but, as I said in the review at the time, I can’t actually remember what meat tastes like, so I have no idea how “authentic” they are. Iceland stock these with the rest of the vegetarian products.

How did I find the new Sainsbury’s range? Well, I held my nose, held my breath and walked down the meat aisle. Luckily, I came across the Naturli burgers very quickly – there wasn’t many left and no mince left at all – as you can probably tell from the main picture. At £2.25 for two pretty big patties, they aren’t badly priced – but they did stick out like a cat in a dog show. All on their lonesome in the middle of what, to vegans, is a graveyard of animal corpses, were two bright rays of (reddish) hope. I popped them in my trolley and made a dash for the safety of the vegetable aisle – a rainbow of delights to counteract my trip to the dark side.

Would I put myself through this again? Possibly. I still prefer the No Bull burgers, but these are very good. They look like meat, cook very quickly (a huge advantage over No Bull) and they fill you up at £1.12 and a half pence each. I am old enough to remember when a half pence coin was actually a thing.

They are not strongly seasoned and have a rustic feel to them – which I guess means they’re pretty “burger-like”, it also means they go well with burger relish, vegan cheese and fried onions. It also means they will probably work brilliantly on a barbecue.

The fact they are not strongly flavoured doesn’t mean they are bland and does mean that I would recommend them for younger or less adventurous palates. This is the point really isn’t it? People who are cynical about veganism may be persuaded to give them a go. Maybe that’s what got the farmers in Australia so riled up?

It’s a shame I couldn’t try the mince, but, to be honest, they are plenty of vegan minces out there and I tend to use they in spag bog, so the authenticity of the original taste would probably be lost on me – but if anybody else wishes to share their thoughts on that, please feel free.