Vegan food in France...

[FusionChefGeoff]

Travelling with friends who are vegan - we're staying in Biarritz down South and we know that eating out will be a challenge but we're self catering so that's good.

But they're worried about availability of the following in supermarkets:

Hummus!
Falafels
Tofu
Tempeh
Vegan sausages

Does anyone have any experience? I know they're not very optimistic about eating out much but want to know if they need to bring a supply of the above with them!

We went to south east France this summer (vegetarian not vegan) and it was a bit shit tbh. Not moved on since I was last there 8 or so years ago.

Netherlands and Germany are way ahead for Vegans

thst said I don’t think you’d have problems finding the above in supermarkets

eating out was hard. My kids liked the vegan offerings in Burger King (McDonald’s was a disaster). Some vegan restaurants in the big cities I think.

Think it will be very challenging

I think to be honest a lot of Mediterranean countries think that a small piece of ham in something means its virtually vegetarian

We are in central France at the moment, and other than houmous, haven't found any of those in supermarket for veggie DD. Only veggie options are goats cheese based, and those have been few and far between.

Don't worry they know it's going to be difficult which js why they're bringing their own but I said I'd ask about hummus and falafels at least in supermarkets?!?

Oh and forgot to ask about oat milk any chance in a L'Eclerc??

Oat milk widely available in supermarkets now - my DDs drink it and we buy it every year. It's called lait d'avoine. Houmous often has yoghurt in it so check the label. I've found Bio stuff the best for that. I've seen falafel in most bigger supermarkets.

You might find hummus and falafel but I think the last three are unlikely to be widely available. I'm sure you would be able to find tins of chickpeas in supermarkets so if there's space to pack a stick blender, that might be an option.

The last 3 times I went to France - Paris, Grenoble and Toulon, the vegetarians were OK although ate a lot of cheese, but the vegans really struggled.

Have you seen Oatly stocked? We had no problems in NL or Germany but struggled last year in France with dairy free options especially cheese and yogurt alternatives

I’ve literally heard ‘it’s vegetarian except for the ham’ in Nice 😹

I’ve never been to Biarritz, but if there’s a Moroccan population there will be hummus and falaffel somewhere.

I can't remember Oatly specifically I'm afraid. Usually just buy the supermarket brand, but my fussy DC who usually only drank oatly were happy with it. I think it is actually called boisson d'avoine.

I haven't looked for oat-based yoghurt but they definitely have soya desserts if that is a possibility. Often not in the chilled section.

Dairy-free cheese is probably hard to come by in France - it would be considered sacrilege!

The Bio supermarkets may have a better dairy-free selection.

I was in Nice end of last year and went to a couple of supermarkets. Plenty of hummus options, also saw falafels. Veggie alternative proteins were harder to spot as they tended not to be in a single section, but there were a few options - try the organic shelves 'bio' first as I found some options there. I did find tofu quite easily.

They also have some other great vegan options like pre cooked puy lentils in bags, breads, nut butters, jams, pre made salads and prepped vegetables (just check the latter for butter). And the fresh vegetable selections were great.

Also note, they aren't allowed to call them vegan 'sausages' anymore, meaty terms for plant based foods were recently banned, not sure what they call them now!

Definitely fewer options than the UK but they shouldn't starve!

Oat milk will be fine, in l'eclerc. Vegan will be a challenge as you know. Hummous should be ok. Check the packets for everything.

Chicken stock is 'vegetarian' in a lot of items.

I live in the alps region but all things listed are widely available in this area.
The Bio sections of supermarkets tend to stock vegan items. I have found things like beyond burgers in supermarkets as well as own brand vegan alternatives if they are into that kind of thing. Grand frais is a good supermarket for vegans if you will have one nearby.

Oh yes. Yes you will have problems finding those things in supermarkets 😱 (There is houmous, but it's very expensive).

You're just starting to see some veggie/ vegan foods in French supermarkets....I remember trying some kind of frozen veggie steaks last time we went, which were....interesting 🙄

They'd be well advised to bring supplies! But given that you're self catering, maybe just a good selection of seasoning and spices? Tinned pulses are definitely readily available...

Hummus will be found in the fish section. Don't ask. It took me a year to find it as I don't eat fish so never went to that section.

Falafels yes. Usually in the chilled section. There is usually a chilled veggie and frozen veggie section of most large supermarkets. They do a lovely coriander and mint one which we always have in the freezer.

Tofu, yes but less common and quite expensive.

Tempeh. In the biocoop rather than supermarket.

Vegan sausages, in the chilled section. There is a make called Happyvore which we have and love.

You might find a British imported frozen section with Linda mccarneys or Richmond sausages, our local super U gets these in regularly and I stock up.

They also do a lot of pre packed add water to make your own sausages etc type meals, in the bio section. Like the old sosmix style mixes.

www.grandfrais.com/magasins/biarritz

Excellent supermarket, particularly for unusual fruit and veg, but they do have a small selection of vegetarian and vegan stuff too

Happy Cow app. Absolutely invaluable

I used to buy this brand of tofu in even the small supermarkets in France and I was gutted when I couldn't find it in the U.K. it's similar to the Naked brand of tofu we have here. Avoid any of the "galettes" that are veg and grain patties, they're pretty awful.

As others have said biocop sell Tofu and Tempeh and Seitan. Large supermarkets sell plant milks, mainly Alpro (including à Coffee one my daughter says she has never seen in the UK) but I have occasionally seen Oatley. There are soy yoghurts and other desserts and the larger supermarkets near me have vegan cheese. As someone else said Happyvore have lots of products and the freezer section will probably have Green Findus vegan products. If there is à Columbo café they do plant milk drinks and there are increasing numbers of Starbucks

Lots of vegan food in larger supermarkets

Last time I was in rural France was 2014
No problems with vegan stuff in supermarkets. Self catering so didn't really eat out much. Chips were ( on asking ) cooked in veg oil though. Decent salads too
I took my own vegan cheeze and pates

If they're planning to bring vegan products with them then make sure you check the French rules for importing food.
Every so often the border rules get checked a bit more rigourously. I know dairy, meat and fresh products are not allowed, even for personal consumption. You probably won't get stopped but if you do you will need a contingency shopping option

Remember that the most common words for vegetarian and vegan are even closer in French than in English, being separated by just one letter:

Vegetarian = végétarien (or végétarienne for a woman).
Vegan = végétalien (or végétalienne for a woman).

Some people distinguish between végétalien, which just means a 100% plant-based diet, and végan (végane for a woman), which means the full lifestyle including no animal exploitation at all. But especially among older people, that all gets lumped together as végétalien, which will also be the main thing to get across when food shopping.

Thank you this is all absolute gold!!! Passing it all on and have found a Biocoop nearby