#i didn’t expect to get so deep in this lol. i blame the adderall

[generative-adversarial-nitwit]

does anyone sincerely like these wicked brand instant cups or are they just investing hard into the US expansion? they’ve taken over several shelves at our local freddys and are even showing up at 7-11 which… even for an inner SE portland market it seems weird to see 7-11 stocking vegan mac and cheese cups lol

stxalq and i have tried a few varieties and my opinions so far have sorta ranged from weird but okay (potatoes & beans chili mac) to weird and kind of bland but at least edible (spicy smoky mac) to straight up nasty (late night rice noodles. no substantial flavor other than being a little spicy and the “broth” gelled so much, i guess from the noodle starch, that it clung to the noodles like slime. terrible lmao). i should note that i was more or less a vegan for several years so like, i can appreciate a plant based mac. plant based mac can be delicious. i like the taste of nutritional yeast. but their macs are kind of overwhelmingly nooch-y and nothing else and idk what the fuck happened in development with the rice noodle ones. do people genuinely like a thick coat of vaguely soy-flavored slime on their “soup” noodles :(

it’s just so weird to me it’s like… what is the target demo for these… the point is that they’re vegan but they’re barely labeled as such except for a couple of tiny graphics. when stxalq first bought the macs he didn’t even realize there was no dairy in them. plus they’re branded in that slightly edgy masculine way with the stuff photoshopped into cast iron like “This isn’t HEALTH FOOD for HIPPIE SOYBOYS this is DUDE FOOD that just HAPPENS to be vegan” but then the food itself tastes granola and healthy as hell. it’s like they want to appeal to non-vegans and/or people who aren’t health food freaks but i can’t imagine anyone outside of those groups thinking this stuff doesn’t taste like dirt lol

of course vegans will (speaking from personal experience) tolerate mediocre food when the options are limited (as they are with these types of just-add-hot-water instant cups). but committed vegans are also (out of necessity) used to putting a little more effort into food prep and there are tons of other convenience food options suitable for vegans that legitimately taste good (or at least better) and only require a little bit more work. there are even vegan boxed macs on the market in the US these days. daiya makes one that’s velveeta style. i could see picking up a few of these for a camping trip or short-term disaster kit or something but idk why most vegans would be buying them regularly

health food freaks on the other hand are (speaking again from past experience) pathologically obsessed with suffering for the sake of “clean eating” and are therefore more than happy to eat food that tastes like shit. but health food freaks also aren’t going to touch “processed” convenience foods and/or anything resembling decadence (like mac & cheese) with a ten foot pole in the first place so it’s like. what’s the point of making the stuff “healthy.” just make it taste good lmao

anyway they make a lot other stuff beyond these weird instant pots and maybe some of that is good. i know they’re popular in the UK and there must be a reason for that (insert “bri’ish food bad lmao lmao” yeah ok. moving on.) especially given that the market for vegan stuff seems pretty competitive over there. gonna see if i can get some of the icèd creams and non-instant noodle kits and see if they’re any good