It's been about 5 months since I did a vegetarian/vegan food type, so let's return to it. (Readers may recall that my last one was about a snack brand literally called "Hippeas," on February 5, 2022.) Today's subject will be two fake meat-filled pot pies from the Alpha line--their Beefy Chedd'r, and their Buffalo Chik'n. (The apostrophes are how Alpha renders their names, evidently to further signify that they don't use real cheddar cheese, beef, or chicken.)
The official Alpha websites are mostly lists of their products, recipes, where to buy them, etc. There are some unusual features, though. In their overview about their wares, they acknowledge that some of their customers might not be full vegans or vegetarians, and may even eat meat on nights they aren't enjoying Alpha foods. They also have a video advertisement (SPOILERS for it, if you care) that mocks some huge fast food restaurants, as blurred stand ins for KFC's Colonel Sanders, Wendy's Wendy, and McDonald's Ronald McDonald claim that eating Alpha foods turned them into vegans. Alpha also provides information about what substances it doesn't use in its products--meat and dairy (obviously), antibiotics, GMO's, trans-fats, cholesterol, and palm oil. (I was interested to see that some of their dishes do use tree nuts, and gluten, which is a bit atypical for vegan and vegetarian products.) The websites don't, however, contain any info about the company's history, so I had to get that from other online sources, which I hope are accurate. According to these, Alpha was founded by Cole Orobetz and Loren Wallis in 2015. Orobetz is an accountant, and serves as Alpha's President and CFO. He's based out of the Canadian city of Calgary, in Alberta. Wallis was formerly the CEO of a dairy-free beverage company called Good Karma Foods, and is currently Alpha's CEO. He, in turn, is based out of the Los Angeles, California area. Another Alpha bigwig is Rob Leclerc, listed as an investor and founding partner, based out of San Francisco, California. Despite Orobetz being based out of Canada, Alpha's headquarters are indicated as being in Glendale, California, which is near Los Angeles. Moving on, other Alpha products, all of which are vegan, include burritos, breakfast sandwiches, strips and a crumble, patties, meatballs, mach cheze (again, their spelling), bowls, tamales, and chik'n nuggets. Oddly, I didn't see the pot pies I tried on their lists--maybe they're new?
Alpha beefy chedd'r pot pie: This was a disc shape, about 3.5 inches (about 9 cm.) in diameter, and about 1.25 inches (about 3 cm.) thick. It was white, with an uneven, pebbly-like surface. Its taste was peculiar. The sauce was rather like a brown gravy. It wasn't a great imitation of beef, or cheese. Not terrible, but not great, either. However, then I tried it with ketchup. Which helped enormously. It really helped the illusion of being meat, and cheese. Still not awesome or anything, but solid. So, if you're a vegan or vegetarian I would recommend this one, as long as you put ketchup on it. And if you're an omnivore it still might be a decent, slightly healthier change-of-pace option.
Alpha Buffalo chik'n pot pie: This one looked identical to the beefy chedd'r one in size, shape, and color, except that a little of the orange Buffalo sauce had emerged and was on the exterior. This pot pie was fairly disappointing. Mostly because the "Buffalo sauce" was not like the typical kind--this one was very bland. The chicken substitute was okay, I suppose--the texture was decent, but because the sauce was boring the overall effect was "blah" as well. It wasn't awful, or inedible--it just wasn't memorable, or worth it. Maybe vegans will like this, but I can't imagine an omnivore seeking this out when good, real Buffalo chicken is an option for them.
Overall, then, I liked one of these, and didn't really like the other one. But, I do remember how some of the fake meat dishes I tried years ago were markedly bad, or even worse. (For example, my September 14, 2014 post about meat substitutes was a collection of mediocre-at-best ones, and several pretty horrible selections.) Apparently vegan chefs are getting better at their craft, especially when it comes to replicating dairy and meat. Or else, I've tried so much of it than I'm developing a bit of a taste for it!
Also, this post came out on Friday instead of the usual Saturday due to a social commitment. The next post, and subsequent ones, will return to the usual Saturday dates, so on July 30th, and so on.
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