Elephants’ pick: innovative brands for specialist diets

From vegan to paleo and gluten-free to dairy-free, numerous brands are offering products catered to specialist diets.

As more brands enter this specialist market, a great tasting, innovative product, will be key to standing out on the shelf.

Here at Elephants Can’t Jump, we’ve worked with some of the leading brands within this sector and have become familiar with the key players and the brands that are shaking things up.

Here are six innovative brands we think are worth checking out:

Vegan:  Rhythm 108

Created in the foothills of the Swiss Alps, Rhythm 108 delivers indulgent yet wholesome treats. With a team of bakers and pâtissiers behind the brand, Rhythm 108 crafts delicious products from nutritious ingredients. From Tea Biscuits to All Day Snack Bars and Swiss Vegan Chocolate Bars, all of the brand’s products are vegan, gluten-free and organic.

Vegetarian: LikeMeat

LikeMeat was founded in Wetschen, Germany in 2013 and their vision is “to create a future with a better way of eating for a greater way of life.” LikeMeat products, which include ‘Like Nuggets’, ‘Like Smoked Sausage’ and ‘Like Kebab’, are based on organic soy or pea protein and are available chilled or frozen. Currently the products are sold in 15,000 supermarkets in 10 European countries.

Gluten-Free: The White Rabbit- Alternative Pizza Company

The White Rabbit- Alternative Pizza Company founders, Nick and Teo, met at The White Rabbit Pub in Oxford. They noticed that the pub was being inundated with requests for free-from and vegan versions of their pizzas, and so their brand idea was born. They believe pizza has the power to bring people together, and so have created an inclusive brand, uncompromising on taste, that exists to achieve this.

Nut-Free: NOMO

NOMO stands for No Missing Out and the brand is all about great chocolate that everyone can enjoy, regardless of allergies, intolerances and dietary requirements. The brand has created a range of chocolate bars without using normal milk chocolate ingredients such as milk powder, that are completely free from dairy, gluten, egg and nuts.

Dairy-Free: Rude Health

Rude Health is a London-based innovative food and drinks company. They believe that “drinks can be dairy-free and full of flavour, eating should be joyful and that healthy definitely doesn’t mean bland or boring.” At Rude Health, the only ingredients used are the kind of ingredients you’d have in your own kitchen; nothing artificial, nothing refined. They source their ingredients from fields, orchards and vines – not laboratories.

Paleo: The Primal Pantry

A paleolithic diet is based on the principle of eating as naturally as possible, taking inspiration from the diets of our Stone Age ancestors. This involves eating grass fed meat, fruit & veg, and nuts & seeds. Dairy, refined sugar and grains are avoided. The Primal Pantry’s mission is “to get people making better snacking choices.” They make a range of paleo friendly snack and protein bars from just a handful of high quality, whole food ingredients. All the ingredients in their bars are recognisable and readily available on a supermarket shelf (no maltodextrin, aspartame or hydrogenated vegetable oils).