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Easter 2024 is almost here and with it… chocolate. Whether you like dark, milk, or white chocolate, there are now a huge variety of vegan Easter eggs that everyone can enjoy. With dairy-free chocolate ever easier to find, chocolate lovers don’t have to miss out on the Easter festivities by choosing to have a plant-based Easter.
Why go vegan this Easter?
Coinciding with the start of Spring, Easter is a time of new beginnings in more ways than one.
For Christians, specifically, Easter is a time of joy and hope. A recent video series of interviews with vegan vicars shone a light on the joy of living a compassionate life that does not involve harming animals. The vicars stressed the need for compassion in humanity’s relationship with animals. “Our fellow creatures were made to praise God,” says The Revd John Ryder in the series. “A creature cannot praise God from your plate.”
Leave lamb off your plate
For some people, roast lamb is a traditional Easter meal. That meal is a baby as young as ten weeks old.
On average, lambs are slaughtered at six months. To be ready for Easter, ewes are forcibly impregnated unnaturally early, which results in many suffering and some dying from the winter temperatures.
In slaughterhouses, workers slit lambs throats. Lambs are usually stunned first but this is not always effective. Therefore some lambs are partially or fully conscious as they bleed to death.
Most importantly, there is no need to torture a sentient being to enjoy an Easter tradition. Vegan versions of lamb are now available in supermarkets such as Aldi. There are also abundant vegan Easter recipes you can make that don’t involve suffering and slaughter.
Visit a sanctuary
As Spring comes around again, many commercial petting zoos and farms open their doors to visitors. Although stroking fluffy animals might seem like a good day out for the whole family, petting zoos and farms are widely regarded as cruel.
First, they can be highly stressful for the animals, who are not given a choice of whether they want to be petted. Moreover, since petting zoos are commercial businesses, they exist to make profit. As such, if an animal loses their “cuteness,” they may be sent to slaughter.
In contrast, vegan sanctuaries offer animals rescued from animal abuse industries a “forever home,” where they can live out their life free from fear and exploitation. Many animals love to have cuddles with visitors, meaning you won’t miss out on the joys of connecting with an animal. The difference is that the animals at sanctuaries are not exploited for profit and are free to live how they want to.
So, if you’re planning a trip out to see some cute animals this Easter, choose to visit happy animals at a sanctuary, not captive animals at a petting zoo or farm.
Ditch the dairy and buy vegan Easter eggs
The dairy industry is widely seen as cruel. Milk comes from mothers, and cows used in the dairy industry are forcibly impregnated before having their babies taken from them hours after birth. Like humans, cows form powerful bonds with their children, and they will often cry out and bellow for days after they are gone.
“Dairy cows” spend much of their lives in pain. Repeated pregnancies, milking, and standing in cramped, dirty conditions wear our cows’ bodies. Once their milk production falters, cows will be sent to the slaughterhouse.
Choosing dairy-free chocolate and other vegan milk alternatives such as oat milk will ensure you are not contributing to this cruelty.
Best Vegan Easter Eggs 2024
Chocolate is everywhere at Easter, but many big-brand Easter eggs contain dairy milk.
Instead of supporting the dairy industry, choose a vegan Easter egg – or several! To help you find the best Easter chocolates, here is a list of some of the best vegan Easter eggs you can buy in 2024.
H!P Oat M!lk Chocolate Eggs
Vegan brand H!P has released two dairy-free Easter eggs for 2024. Bigger than before, the new Salted Caramel Oat Milk Chocolate Egg joins the popular Cookies No Cream to give oat milk fans a greater choice of treats. The chocolate is creamy and smooth in both the egg and accompanying chocolate buttons. H!P uses sustainably sourced single origin Colombian chocolate and, crucially, oat milk, which requires ten times less land than dairy milk to produce the same quantity of end product. The packaging is plastic free and recyclable.
Available from H!P Chocolate and Ocado. £10
Moo Free’s Easter range
Moo Free is a hugely popular vegan chocolate brand for “dairy dodging, choccy chompers.” This year’s Easter range features two brand-new creations: a Rocky Road Egg and Strawberry Sundae Egg. Colorful, creative, and joyful, these vegan Easter eggs will delight chocolate lovers young and old. The Rocky Road brings together milk and white chocolate then loads it with biscuit rice balls, juicy raisins, marshmallows and cinder toffee pieces. The Strawberry Sundae combines white chocolate with a new strawberry flavoured chocolate and vegan marshmallows. These join Moo Free’s range of popular Easter treats such as Caramel Filled Mini Eggs, Bunnycomb Egg, and an Easter Egg Hunt Kit.
Available from Moo Free and other retailers, including Tesco, Morrisons, Waitrose, and Ocado. £2.50-£4.50
PLAYin CHOC’s Rabbit Collection
Looking for something a bit different for the little ones this Easter? PLAYin CHOC offers delicious dairy-free chocolate and a fun animal-themed child’s toy. The award-winning, allergen-free organic chocolate is creamy, indulgent… and made with a third less sugar than leading chocolate brands. Children will also enjoy the fun facts card, whilst building their 3D mini-model. What’s more, to celebrate Easter, the vegan brand has released a special Rabbit Collection. It all comes in plastic-free packaging, with the chocolate in a compostable wrapping.
Available from PLAYin CHOC. £2.25 per box (£13.50 for a gift set)
Ombar Oat M’lk Chocolate Easter Egg
Ombar takes creamy vegan chocolate to the next level. Made with the sustainably sourced cacao from Ecuador and produced in small batches in Cambridge, Ombar’s chocolate is as unique as it is irresistible. Made using organic and gluten-free British-grown oats, Ombar’s “good egg” has half the greenhouse gas emissions of dairy and 40 percent less sugar to boot. Moreover, for every Ombar Oat M’lk Egg sold, the company donates 5p towards reforestation projects in Ecuador – further adding to the positive impact of ditching dairy.
Available from Ombar, as well as Planet Organic and independent health food shops nationwide. £12.99.
Divine Fairtrade Dark Chocolate with Raspberry Flat Egg
Not in the mood for a hollow egg? Then Divine’s brand-new Chocolate Raspberry Flat Egg might be just what you need. A thick slab of Fairtrade 70 percent dark chocolate hand-finished with a delicious raspberry topping, the Divine Flat Egg is smooth. It also has the added benefit of 40 percent less packaging than a boxed egg.
Available from Divine and retailers including Waterstones. £5.
NOMO’s Easter Collection
Winner of six major accolades at the 2024 Free From Easter Awards, NOMO has an Easter range of ten products for 2024, including six new arrivals. A free-from and vegan chocolate brand, NOMO’s Easter products are made without dairy, gluten, eggs, and nuts. The brand-new Ultimate Egg is an Easter bonanza for the ultimate chocolate fan: a smooth chocolate egg filled with eight mini chocolate bars and two cookie dough bunnies.
Available at NOMO and other retailers. £3.50-£10.
Venchi Nougatine Egg
Italian luxury chocolate brand Venchi has released a vegan Easter egg in its range for 2024. With a dark chocolate shell and an inner coating of crunchy caramelized Piedmont Hazelnut, this is an indulgent chocolate egg that weighs more than half a kilo.
Available from Venchi and other retailers. £68
Co-op Gro Fairtrade Cocoa Salted Toffee Crunch Easter Egg
A dairy-free Easter Egg bursting with toffee flavour pieces and a sprinkle of Anglesey sea salt. Made with Fairtrade cocoa, the Gro Salted Toffee Crunch is a tasty Easter treat and 100 percent vegan.
Available from Co-op stores nationwide. £4.50
