A Vegan Christmas Gift Guide

Buying Christmas presents can be challenging on the best of days, nevermind if someone has a specific dietary requirement or request. Veganism is growing in popularity amongst the UK, but there's still quite a lot of people who don't quite understand what it is, therefore buying a vegan gift can be difficult. There are lots to consider when buying a vegan present from whether it has any animal products in it to whether it is ethical or cruelty-free. It can also be quite daunting for vegans telling their non-vegan family members what to buy them as we don't want to come across as unappreciative, but we also don't want people buying us items that we wouldn't use. 

In this post, I've put together a few gift suggestions for vegans based on my favourite all time products, as well recommendations from a few vegan brands. 

Chocolate

When buying chocolate for someone who is vegan it is always important to check the ingredients to make sure that the chocolate does not have milk, lactose or honey in it. There are quite a few dark chocolates on the high street such as Green and Blacks that are vegan but always look at the packaging to make sure. My favourite budget-friendly chocolate at the moment is the online confectionary brand, Goupie*. The brand has 13 out of 17 flavours on their website that are vegan, including two Christmas flavours and prices start at £4.00. The chocolates are incredibly chewy with a lovely crunchy centre and they are perfect for those who are not overly keen on dark chocolate as they are not as rich as other chocolates on the market.

If you're looking for a luxury chocolate brand, these Paxton Chocolate* 'Deliciously Dark Thins' would be the perfect treat. These chocolates are vegan and gluten-free and include a selection of thin chocolates coated with apple and ginger, mango and paprika, raspberry and mint and strawberry and black pepper. Prices start from £7.50 for a small box and go to up £25 for a large box.

Vegan hampers

Hampers are always a great present choice and you can make your own hampers from scratch incorporating a few of your friends or loved ones favourite items or buy them pre-made.  Traditional pre-made hampers won't be vegan as they usually include milk chocolate and honey, however, there's a lot of brands online that are now doing vegan specific hampers. If the person you are buying for loves cooking and Italian food, the five-minute meal kit from Vorrei* would be the perfect present to put under their tree. The hamper costs £55 and includes authentic Italian pasta, risottos and sauces. The kit is quite extensive with three different types of pasta, two risottos, dried vegetables, basil pesto, pasta sauces, chilli oil, truffles and it comes in a presentation box topped with a green ribbon so that you don't need to do any wrapping. This kit is perfect for those who love cooking but don't have enough time spare to do it.

Vegan slogan t-shirts

Some vegans are really passionate about their diet and animals, therefore a t-shirt with a slogan on it could make the perfect Christmas presents. Slogan t-shirts allow the wearer to showcase their personality and shows that the gift-buyer has put a lot of thought into what they have bought you. I picked up this one recently at a vegan fair and it really sums me up in those few sentences. This particular t-shirt has been made from organic, fair trade cotton and cost me £25.

Vegan cookbooks

Whether the person that you're buying a present for has just turned vegan or they have been vegan for several months or years, everyone still needs recipe inspiration from time to time. My all-time favourite cookbooks are by Masterchef finalist Jackie Kearney. These recipes are packed full of flavour with dishes she has put together from her travels around the world. I use these cookbooks at least once a week and wouldn't be without them. The books cost £16.99 each and they are full of meals that your friend or loved one will never get bored of. These books are my best purchases in a long time.

Alcohol

Not all alcohol is vegan and in fact, not all alcohol is vegetarian either. A lot of booze is filtered using fish bladders, but legally they don't have to declare this. If you're looking for a boozy vegan gift this Christmas, check out Barnivore where you can check out which alcohol is vegan and which isn't. As a general rule, most Gins are vegan and therefore I decided to add this little Sipsmith Gin kit to the Christmas list. There are three types of Gin in a beautiful gift set and this is only £10.



Experiences

Experiences are a great gift to give someone as it allows them to do something that they may not have the money or chance to do and the memories from that gift will last a lot longer than a box of chocolate. These days there are lots of different experiences you can buy from spa days to skydiving, afternoon tea to weekend breaks, available from websites such as Prezzybox*. If you're buying an experience day for a vegan friend or family, just remember to check to see if they have vegan alternatives if it is to do with food or that the activity is cruelty-free.

Are you buying any vegan gifts this year?

*This post contains some PR samples