Thursday 9 July 2015

Allergy & Free From Show 2015


Last Saturday I was up bright and early to travel down to the Allergy & Free From show at the Olympia. I arrived 20 minutes before opening and joined the queue which was getting pretty long. This is my 3rd year at the show so I kinda know what to expect and I always have a rough idea of the stalls I want to visit. This year I printed off a floor plan and circled the stalls that I definitely wanted to visit so I didn't miss them.


The show is split into three areas. The Allergy & Free From Show, Just V Show (Veggie & Vegan food & lifestyle) and the Love Natural Love Organic Show. All marked out with different coloured carpets in the Grand Hall. I'm glad we got there for opening as the the show gets busy very quickly. 


My first stop was the Delicious Alchemy stall. I love this brand. They sell some amazing products. My favourite being the bread mixes and the chocolate brownie mix. They were super friendly and it was nice to meet the girls behind the Twitter account. We discussed the brownies because they require egg in the mix. As I avoid eggs I usually use egg replacer but I was told to try mashed potato instead. I'll be giving this a go. 



My next stop was another of my favourites BFree. It was a nice surprise to see that they are launching Stone Baked Pita Breads that are Dairy, Egg and Gluten Free. I adore their bagels and these pita breads don't disappoint either, they are amazing. I love this brand because they don't use egg in their products. It's hard to find gluten & dairy free products without egg. Would be great to see more of their products in all the supermarkets. 



I stopped at the lovely Anandas stall as the marshmallows and Round Ups caught my eye. I'd seen that Round Ups are very popular with Vegans and I was so happy to see they had created a gluten free version too. They are amazing. Mine didn't last long at all. Who couldn't love two biscuits filled with marshmallow, jam and covered in chocolate. I also picked out some raspberry marshmallows which were (yes I've eaten them all) delicious. 



I'd seen Baskels mentioned on Twitter the previous day and noticed their mixes were egg free (as well as dairy & gluten free) and didn't require egg to make either. The mixes weren't for sale at the show but the very helpful man gave me a bag with a sample of the Artisan Bread Mix. The breads on the stall looked fab so I'm looking forward to trying this mix. 



I got a tip off the previous day from Sarah of Sugarpuffish that I needed to visit the Nana Nice Cream stall. I'm glad I did. She was right. I purchased a tub of the Vanilla Nice Cream and it was really nice. It contains simple ingredients (banana, avocado, dates, apple & vanilla) and tastes great. Hopefully they will be stocked in supermarkets soon.


I can't go to the allergy show without buying chocolate and this year I had Cocolibre on my list of must visits. The ladies on the stall were really friendly and helpful. I went for the show deal and picked out two large items and two small. I picked out a delicious three pack of small bars (honeycomb, raspberry & orange/ginger), a big bar of honeycomb and two small bars of orange and mint. Delicious dairy free chocolate.


This one my husband spotted and wanted to try. This is a rich raw chocolate. Both flavours were tasty. The bars were pretty small but I find with dark chocolate you don't need too much anyway. 


I stocked up on the O'Choco biscuits as I don't have anywhere near me that sells them. I'm partial to these Oreo style cookies so they will go down nicely. I don't think there are any other UK brands that sell this style cookie so its great that lovemore have got us intolerant / allergic peeps covered.


Another favourite of mine is the Venice Bakery pizza bases. I've been buying them for a few years now. I like to use them for garlic bread to accompany meals as well as pizza. They are the best UK pizza bases in my opinion. Would be great if some bigger pizza chains used these as their free from option as they cover so many allergies.


I've not had Hoi Sin sauce in a long time so I had to buy this from the Sweet Mandarins stall. They sell great gluten free Chinese sauces. I'm looking forward to trying this sauce with some crispy duck. One day I want to visit their Chinese restaurant in Manchester. 


Fave snack alert! The nakd stall had a great offer on their bars so I stocked up on two of my favourite flavours. My husband likes the nibbles so I got him a selection of flavours which he hadn't tried. These will keep us going for a while. 



Ms Cupcake had made all her vegan bakes gluten free this year which was amazing. It was hard to choose from the delicious selection of flavours but I picked out a red velvet cupcake. I ate it as soon as I got back to our hotel. Yum! I need to get her book out again and start making some of her bakes. She's fab! If your ever near Brixton go visit her shop.


So there you go. That was this years Allergy Show. I had a great morning at the show and was really pleased with all my purchases. It was great to meet some of the faces behind social media accounts too.

I highly recommend visiting the show if you have allergies or intolerances. There are hundreds of stalls and lots of really helpful information.

You can visit the Allergy Show Website here or find them on Twitter @AllergyShow


6 comments:

  1. You got some great bits and pieces, I never explored the baking mixes as I just always assume you need eggs. I need some more of those wagon wheels in my life so yummy. Thanks for the shout out, glad you also enjoyed Nana Nice Cream :D

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    1. Tell me about it!! I think I need to make an order for Round Ups again sometime too. amazing. If mixes are egg free but need eggs to make them I always give them a go with egg replacer. Interested to try the mashed potato to replace egg.

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  2. I was in the queue too before opening! Was probably right behind you but just didn't know it lol! Gutted about Ms Cupcake, mis read the sign and thought they weren't gf! doh! Red velvet is my fave as well! I will just have to head to Brixton very soon!

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    1. Haha! yes, im sure I probably passed lots of people too that day without knowing. ahh that's a shame. I was really happy when the girl told me everything had been made gf for the show. (love your user name btw )

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  3. Ah! So it was you who bought all the O'Choccos! I got the last two! Oh well! Can't say as I blame you! Do you not have a Waitrose near you? Our Waitrose has them, and it's quite a small one! Sorry I missed you YET again! Next year!!

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    1. Guilty! Haha, no I don't have a Waitrose near me. Closest in 45 mins drive away. Must be popular as there were a full table at just gone 10am :) I know, next year it WILL happened x

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