Why I Support Non-Vegan Companies That Produce Vegan Products… (Sunbites Product Review!)

Hi all!

First of all, I wanted to quickly let you know that I have joined something called Social Soup. It’s free to sign up (you just need either Facebook or Instagram) and basically, you are randomly selected to test products (food, household items etc.) to review on social media. The more you actively participate, the more campaigns and projects you will be invited to. If you would like more information, click here. There is also a Social Soup app.

As you know, I have been a vegan for nearly six years now. I let the administrators at Social Soup know that I’m not prepared to review/taste/use anything that isn’t 100% cruelty-free; which obviously limits the amount of campaigns I am given, but that is fine with me. They marked that I was vegan on my profile and just a couple of weeks ago, I was referred by my sister (who has been a member of Social Soup for years) to partake in the Sunbites campaign. Sunbites make healthier versions of chips, crackers and popcorn. I accepted, quite certain that at least one of their products had to be vegan. I was given a voucher to go to my local supermarket and select from their cracker and chip line.

I went to my local Coles and saw that all of the Sunbites chips and crackers were labelled with ‘contains milk’ on the back which was very disheartening. However, when I contacted the company, they informed me that the Sweet Chilli flavour doesn’t actually contain any dairy at all. This label is purely to cover themselves against trace amounts. I was really happy to hear that and discovered the same goes for their Snack Crackers with Quinoa Sea Salt and their Grainwaves Beetroot Chips with Chilli Jam. For my Australian readers, there is an app called The Fussy Vegan which scans barcodes on products and tells you if they are vegan or not. Super duper handy if you’re tired of reading over labels all the time. I scanned these products and they were confirmed vegan. The Sweet Chilli chips were so delicious and full of flavour. I’m not ashamed to say I devoured the entire packet! I would highly recommend buying these.

I support and am happy to promote products like these because whilst the entire Sunbites range may not be vegan, I am grateful that at least three of their products are. If we boycott companies like Sunbites, we are the ones that lose. We are essentially turning away from an opportunity for more vegan products. If we buy them, consume them and leave helpful feedback, the plant-based range may open up even more. For example, in Australia, fast-food chain restaurant Hungry Jacks launched a vegan burger in 2018. The burger itself is absolutely delicious and received so much positive feedback that not only are they here to stay, Hungry Jacks have now released vegan breakfast muffins. You see how it works? There is a huge debate in the community at the moment about supporting the new vegan Magnums because they are owned by Unilever; a company that manufactures items that are tested on animals. I could refuse to spend a single dollar on them but what would be the point in that? The supply and demand for the Magnums would drop and then we would have no options. I know some vegans can be all or nothing (believe me, I used to be like that in the beginning) but we have to celebrate the small wins whenever they present themselves. The more we let companies know we are crazy about the vegan options they’ve released, the more they will release them and move away from those less ethical.

Let me know what you think in the comments below. Do you agree or disagree? I welcome all feedback.

Thank you for reading!

Peace & Love xoxo

I am not being paid or sponsored for this post/products – all my thoughts/opinions are my own.