Derbyshire Christmas - Anandas Foods

This week I am focusing on Derbyshire businesses who are producing beautifully crafted artisan products. Yesterday was the turn of Birdhouse Tea Company and their delightful Peak District tea range. Today I am very excited to bring to you Anandas Foods. I love the story of how their company came about. Ananda and Russell who were both working as professional photographers at the time set about making vegan marshmallows for their children to enjoy with hot chocolate on bonfire night. Vegan marshmallows are a relatively new thing in the UK and these guys have been real pioneers. They then progressed to doing some stalls at local fairs and have slowly grown the company without any bank loans or credit, winning awards along the way. The whole family is involved with their daughter coming up with the Round Ups name and their son hoping to run the company when he is older.

Up to now I'd only really come across Round Ups from their range of products. We are big fans and always buy some for Christmas presents and whenever we see them at Vegan Fairs. I had only tried the original Round Ups and was delighted to discover that they also come in other flavours.

Chocolate and mint is always a winning combination.

Chocolate and orange is such a great flavour for the festive season. They are also got two special flavours for Christmas this year in Rudolph's Cherry and Berry and a Marc de Champagne version!

There is even a gluten free version.

They are based on the Wagon Wheel snack  (but are much, much better and more substantial). The quality of the chocolate they use is excellent and you get a thick layer around the edge of each Round Up and a lovely squiggle of it on one side.

It always makes me smile when I see this on the other side!

Here's a cross section of the limited edition Halloween Round Up that was packed with a thick layer of marshmallow and some blackcurrant jam. There are also some special gift tins available for Christmas so if you have any friends or relatives wondering what to buy you I suggest you give them a nudge in the direction of the website.

They also sent me a range of their hand made marshmallows to try. These included Coconut, Raspberry and Blackcurrant + Liquorice. They come in these beautifully designed gift cubes. I loved all their packaging design and how recyclable it all is. I've saved the boxes to reuse for homemade gifts.

In addition to this there was also some choca mocha mallows with a generous drizzle of dark chocolate.

These peach marshmallows were delightful.

The mini bites were super cute.

Just perfect for two steaming mugs of hot chocolate.

I loved everything about these handmade marshmallows. The texture is excellent and they hold up well in hot chocolate, softening nicely but not dissolving to mush like some other brands I've tried. They toasted well too. I was really impressed with the use of natural and organic ingredients. The colour of the raspberry and blackcurrant + liquorice marshmallows were lovely and vibrant whilst still using natural flavouring and colouring. They use Madagscan vanilla extract and you can taste the quality. I was also impressed by the range of flavours. I was crazy for the blackcurrant + liquorice ones in particular and had to restrain myself from eating the whole box in one go! All in all I can't recommend these products highly enough. They even sell kits to make your own marshmallows and condensed milk too. If you are looking to support vegan run businesses then check them out. You will not be disappointed.