Tuesday 7 July 2015

Just V Show



Last Friday I was fortunate enough to visit the Just V Show at London Olympia. This was my first time at this event, which was formally known as 'V Delicious', and I was excited to see what was in store! I was also interested to see that 2 other shows, 'Allergy & Free From' and 'Love Natural Love Organic', had teamed up to create one big show together. This got me really excited for the sheer scale of this event and the prospect of discovering some new brands and products. 

I was wearing 3 hats at this event - 1 as a Vegan consumer, 1 as a blogger and 1 as part of my day job for Vegan Life magazine. So there was a lot for me to think about and a lot of ground for me to cover! 

I apologise in advance for my slightly haphazard photos as I was just trying to snap some shots where I could in-between the networking and shopping! Oh and trying to navigate myself around without missing anything! 


Olympia is one of my favourite venues for an event of this kind and I am glad I got to visit on the opening day on the Friday as even though it was busy it wasn't crazy busy like it can be on the weekend days, so I was fortunate enough to be able to wonder around without getting any crowd rage! Everything was also laid out very nicely in easy to navigate floor plans which divided the shows up into their separate categories. It all felt spacious and breezy which I love! 


It was really fab to see some brands that I am already aware of at the show and to also discover some new ones which I haven't been aware of prior to this event. I also have to say that the food sampling was really good with almost every stand offering up samples to try out. It certainly kept my hungry stomach at bay!


I was especially happy to come across the Goody Good Stuff stand and take advantage of their little pick and mix selection that they had laid out for everyone. It was also really great to hear from them that all of their products are now vegan friendly too! 


I had previously seen some tweets about The Raw Chocolate Pie Company so I was super happy to see them there and I finally got a chance to try out some of their fab Vegan friendly chocolate which was so rich and delicious! 


Another brand that I have recently heard so much about is Eden Perfumes who make Vegan and cruelty free perfume. I was so happy to see them there! I took advantage of their special offer and snapped myself up a new perfume. I love that they have created matches to the bigger designer brands as it makes it so much easier to pick a fragrance based on what you already like. That being said I still found it a tough choice as they all smelt so amazing! In the end I opted for one of their best sellers which is a match to Armani Si which is such a gorgeous smell.



All the food on offer just looked so good. I ended up picking up £10 worth of nuts and olives from this Med Foods stand alone! But i'm really glad I did as the food was beautiful and great for snacking on over the weekend. My husband actually complained why I didn't pick up more after seeing this photo! 


Another new business which I came across was the Paradise Unbakery whose raw cakes looked absolutely stunning! I did worry that it wasn't going to be practical to pick up such a delicate looking cake in the heat and attempt to transport it home but i'm glad I just went with my impulsiveness as it was divine.


My all time favourite Vegan baker Ms Cupcake was present too! I think it's almost impossible for a Vegan to walk past her stand and not buy something. I've tried so many of their creations in the past but I couldn't leave without picking something up so opted for one of their huge chocolate cookies! 


After a good couple of hours of walking around I have to say that the heat and the weight of my shopping was getting to me. I kept finding myself having to make little pit stops and as always with these events there is an abundance of food samples but little in the way of anything you can drink. Of course I was really unprepared and hadn't taken any water with me so I did have to fork out an astonishing £2.25 for a really small bottle of water. I was then so happy to see that Pip Organic were selling ice pops for £1 so I instantly picked up one of their apple flavoured ones which was so refreshing and needed! Smooze were also another stand offering up some frozen delights so in the end I did manage to cool down and rehydrate.

So to summarise I had a really good day at the Just V Show and it was so productive on so many levels for all the different hats I was wearing! It's always a pleasure to mingle with other likeminded people and I even got to say hello to one of my online buddies and fellow blogger Mica Day whilst I was there which was great! 

The only negative about this show for me was that it was a mixture of Vegan, Vegetarian and meat based products which did make me feel less comfortable than when I am, for example, wondering around a VegFest event and can feel safe in the knowledge that everything is 100% Vegan. I did have to stop and ask on a number of occasions if something was Vegan friendly and 50% of the time the answers didn't fill me with an amazing amount of confidence! Also the different shows were only segregated by a different colour carpet and therefore for the most part it did feel that the stands were all blending into one show which did at times feel a bit confusing as in one area I was sampling a Vegan sausage and a few feet away there were organic pork sausages on sale. A little bit risky for the Vegans!

None of this would put me off going again next year though and I think you can gather from my top haul photo that I had a successful trip! It was still a great day out and an event I would like to visit again. 

I definitely learnt some lessons at this show which will hopefully have me more prepared for London VegFest in October:

  • I need to take water with me and plenty of it! 
  • I need to take cash with me and plenty of it! I really resent paying to draw money out at these venues. 
  • I need to invest in some kind of trolley bag on wheels because I stock up at these shows and it really is no fun walking around with carrier bags cutting off the circulation in your hands.
  • I need to start going to more than 1 day of a show and perhaps decide to make a weekend of them where possible as, even though I am beyond happy with my haul, I can guarantee that i'll see something that someone else has bought that I missed out on! By going on a 2nd day I feel like you have  the chance to review your purchases and really take time to decide what you want. Where as if you only go for one day you kind of feel like a crazy impulsive kid in a sweet shop grabbing at everything whilst you can! 

I have had a few people ask me on online what my favourite finds were at this show and who I was most impressed with so i'm just going to list my top 3 Just V Show picks below:

  • Pudology - A totally new experience for me and one that I loved! Extremely tasty chocolatey dessert pots which really hit the spot!
  • Eden Perfumes - These guys are on to something special with their business. Vegan & CF perfume isn't easy to come by and there isn't a huge choice so I feel that they're really filling a gap in the market. 
  • Smooze - Another new brand for me and one that I am now a huge fan of! Low calorie freeze at home fruit ices made with coconut milk. They really are heavenly and I know I will keep buying them now. 

I hope this review has been helpful and insightful, especially if you didn't get to make it down to Olympia at the weekend. I'd also love to hear your own thoughts if you did go along and what you think worked well and perhaps not so well!? What were your best finds from the event and was there anything you wished you'd picked up but didn't!? I'll look forward to reading your comments!


Sarah x
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2 comments

  1. It looks like such a fun day! I have so many brands to check out now :D

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  2. Thanks for your comment Gemima! It was a great day. Personally I prefer London VegFest though. You should definitely check it out if you can make it to London in October. It has to be the Vegan highlight of the year :-) xx

    ReplyDelete

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