20 East of England Co-op stores have introduced loads of new vegan foods

Clive's tomato tart Picture: Clive's Pies Archant

Get your hands on falafel burgers, dairy-free cheese, vegan snacks, doner ‘kebab’ meat, organic pies and more.

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Fry's falafel burger Picture: Fry's Family Food Fry's falafel burger Picture: Fry's Family Food

Whether for health, environmental or compassionate reasons, more Brits than ever before are choosing to switch to a vegan diet. If not every day, but for part of the week. It's really never been easier to go meat and dairy-free, with supermarket buyers and product development teams working overtime to provide tasty, nutritious alternatives to this growing section of the population.

The latest retailer to get on board is the East of England Co-op, which has just introduced a range of new plant-based products across the Deli-to-go, freezer and chilled areas of 20 of its stores in the eastern region.

Here are just some of the brands to look out for.

V Bites cheese Picture: Ant Jones Photography V Bites cheese Picture: Ant Jones Photography

Clive's Pies

Pies are an easy option to turn to on those nights when you don't have time to prep dinner from scratch. And Clive's hit the nail on the head when it comes to both flavour and convenience. The organic, free-from pastries have been made in the top floor of a converted woollen mill in South Devon for over 30 years. "We do everything we can to minimise our environmental impact through local sourcing of ingredients, waste recycling, using recyclable packaging and the recent installation of a heat recovery unit which uses the waste generated from our chillers and freezers," say the Clive's team. Look out on your shelves for anything from saag aloo pie to lentil and kale tart and creamy mushroom pie.

The Brook

Home-cooked style dishes made in small batches and full of nutrients. Their ready meals range from red Thai curry to black bean chilli and jackfruit rending. "We understand just how busy life is these days and, without access to convenient meals, eating plant-based regularly can be hard to sustain. Our hope is that by delivering a range of restaurant-quality meals we can help you achieve the lifestyle and diet you want, without having to compromise on quality."

Fry's

Established in 1991, Fry's is now a second generation family business that is passionate about tasty plant-based foods, from burgers, sausages and mince, to falafels and falafel burgers. "The original idea behind Fry's," says the team, "was to make nutritious products for our family who are all passionate about plant-based diets. We still make our food for our family, but it is now a lot bigger, so join us and you can enjoy tasty food that is better for you."

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V Bites

Meat-free burgers, beef pieces, chicken pieces, ham slices, lamb doner kebab slices and cheese are just some of the tasty products V Bites sells, with cheese and kebab 'meat' hoped to be clear winners for vegan shoppers at the Co-op. The brand was established over 25 years ago and has a clear vision to be at the forefront of creating vegan meat substitutes, saying: "Through our taste-obsessed research and development, we are focused on delivering a wide variety of delicious and healthy meat substitutes to satisfy the most discerning meat-reducer."

Mama K's

Mama K's focuses on sourcing the finest ingredients and freshest produce to create healthy products whilst maintaining an authentic and traditional Middle Eastern and Mediterranean taste. In the Deli to Go section of your Co-op you'll discover snacks, from bean salads and falafels with fresh houmous to houmous dips with pitta chips.

Find the new ranges in Essex: Manningtree, Stanway, West Mersea, Sible Hedingham, Brightlingea, Halstead, Wivenhoe

Suffolk: Framlingham, Saxmundham, Leiston, Felixstowe, Hadleigh, Combs Ford, Holbrook, Woodbridge

Norfolk: Harleston, Long Stratton, Acle, Earlham Green, Dereham Road, Costessey