Sweet Gift Ideas For Your Favourite Vegan Or Vegetarian

If you have a friend with a sweet tooth who happens to be a vegetarian or vegan, there are few things you need to consider before heading to your local supermarket to grab a bag of Haribo. Here we provide some inspiration for sweet gifts to give your favourite vegetarian or vegan!

Why Are Some Sweets Not Vegetarian?

Sweets that contain gelatine are not suitable for vegetarians, as this is made through a process which involves boiling animal skin and bones.

What Ingredients In Sweets Are Not Vegan?

Alongside not eating any meat, fish or poultry like a vegetarian, vegans choose not to eat animal products, such as eggs and dairy. But often there can be certain ingredients in sweets that you may not initially think are unfriendly for vegans. Here are some examples:

• - Beeswax
• - Honey
• - Casein or Milk By-products
• - Confectioner’s Glaze on Candy (sometimes listed as resinous glaze, shellac, natural glaze, or pure food glaze)
• - Gelatine

Top 5 Vegetarian Sweets

Sweets make a great gift, and can be ideal for catering for different dietary requirements without losing flavour or interest.

Everyone has different tastes, but when it comes to retro vegetarian sweets there are definitely some stand-out options! These include:

1. Bon Bons

Bon bons are an undeniable classic, and great for gifting as you can get them in lots of different flavours. Such as:

• - Apple
• - Cherry
• - Lemon
• - Rhubarb and Custard
• - Strawberry

Interestingly, bon bons can be linked back to the 17th century where they were made for the Parisian royal court. The French also lay claim to the name as “bon”, which in French, basically translates to 'good'.

2. Cola Cubes

Next in the list is Cola cubes and who doesn’t love the Coca-Cola flavour? These cola flavoured hard boiled sweets with a chewy centre are delicious. They are great if you want to treat yourself to a bag, but can also be bought in a large sweetshop gift jar, with a personalised message on the label, providing a thoughtful touch.

3. Fizzy Vampire Teeth

Fizzy vampire teeth are a well-known cinema favourite for vegetarians, as they can be one of the few good vegetarian options at the pick and mix counter. If you are looking for a sour, chewy sweet with lots of flavour then these are ideal, and can also be bought in a large sweetshop gift jar, with a personalised message on the label.

4. Flying Saucers

Flying Saucer Sweets, aka UFO Sweets, are a true tuckshop classic; the first flying saucers were produced in the early 1950s.

Not only are they vegetarian, they are also vegan and gluten free! You can choose to buy an individual pack or you can also get them in an old-school glass Kilner jar.

5. Fruit Salads

Last but not least, fruit salads. Everyone loves a raspberry and pineapple flavoured chew in the well-known yellow and pink wrapper.

Not only can these be purchased as a gift in a glass Kilner jar, but there is also the option to get a fruit salad and black jack mashup.

Vegetarian Chocolate Choices

There are also some great chocolate choices for vegetarians, such as Frys orange cream and milk chocolate peanuts. And a personal favourite, chocolate speckled eggs!

Top 5 Vegan Sweets

Now onto your vegan options, we have five great choices to consider:

1. Candy Love Heart Lipsticks

You can share the love with your vegan friend with a fruit flavour compressed-candy sweet in a lipstick case - made by Swizzels. And if you have heath in mind, they also contain no artificial colours!

2. Iron Brew Humbugs

This next choice is a more unusual one, and may be ideal for a Scottish vegan. These are handmade humbugs, that taste great and look really cool, too. These little glittery, golden gems would make a lovely present.

3. Pear Drops

Pear drops are orangey pink and yellow boiled sweets with a wonderful flavour of pears. You can get these as either a 250g bag, a 3kg bag or in a large sweetshop gift jar.

4. Sugar Mice

How much more traditional can you get than sugar mice? If your vegan friend loves old school sweets, then these are a great option.

5. Wham Bars

Wham bars take pride of place in the 80s Hall of Fame. These tongue-tingling raspberry flavour chewy bars with little bits of fizz throughout could make the perfect present. They are also very affordable, as you can get 10 bars for £1, or even a box of 60 for £6!