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supermarket giant Whole Foods has added a vegan macaroni and cheese to the
readymade hot bar menu at select locations.
Meeting
demand
The classic
dish is available at 55 stores throughout the Pacific Southwest – a move aimed
at meeting consumer demand.
Whole
Foods Prepared Food Coordinator Corey Smith said the chain’s customers ‘have
been requesting vegan mac and cheese options for years’.
Collaboration
The new
offering is the product of a collaboration between Whole Foods and Chef Ayindé
Howell of Mac & Yease.
Smith said the chain ‘couldn’t
have found a better partner’ than Howell.
Family
favorite
A lifelong
vegan, Howell’s famed plant-based take on the classic comfort food is an
adaptation of an old family recipe.
On the Mac & Yease website, Howell wrote: “My great Grandmother Mary Fluker from St
Stephens Alabama used to make baked Mac & Cheese for my father and his
family on Sundays for dinner.
“I got a
hold of the recipe and now Great Grandma Mary’s staple Sunday supper dish has
been veganized!”
Commercial
success
Not only
has Howell partnered with Whole Foods, but his coveted plant-based mac was also
featured at famed music festival Coachella, and has been available at a number
of other markets and venues.
Howell is
reportedly in it for more than the money, however.
He said: “As
a person who grew up a vegan child, I longed for options when I went out to eat
and so often couldn’t.
“I want to
give back to that vegan child today, so they never feel hungry, or weird, or
left out.”
