Vegan corned beef is coming to select Whole Foods Market locations starting next month. The meat-free cold cut is made by Mrs. Goldfarb’s Unreal Deli.
“Unreal Corned Beef is making its way into 54 Whole Foods stores,” founder Jenny Goldfarb wrote on Instagram. “Every @wholefoods in Arizona, mid-southern California & southern Nevada you’ll find our scrumptious sandwich with my vegan Russian dressing on an organic whole grain roll, starting in September!”
According to the website, Goldfarb’s great grandparents emigrated to New York City from Romania and opened a chain of delis. She moved to California in 2011, where she shifted to a vegan diet, but the love for deli meat never left. Her passion led her to develop her vegan corned beef.
She added: “A dream come true for our little startup & the sweetest creatures we know ?xo.”
Whole Foods won’t be the first to offer Goldfarb’s vegan corned beef. Los Angeles’s iconic Canter’s Deli debuted a meat-free reuben earlier this month, complete with rye, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing. The quintessential West Coast Jewish deli has been serving the city since opening in 1931.
Goldfarb prizes her vegan corned beef’s authenticity. According to the website, customers say that it tastes just as good, if not better, than the real thing. But it’s free from components found in traditional corned beef, like cholesterol, nitrates, and the environmental impact.
Animal agriculture is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions; the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world needs make a drastic shift toward a more plant-forward diet. “The consumption of healthy and sustainable diets, such as those based on coarse grains, pulses, and vegetables, and nuts and seeds … presents major opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” the report noted.
It’s also ostensibly healthy than real corned beef. A growing body of medical studies details how red and processed meat — like cold cuts — is linked to chronic health issues like heart disease and certain forms of cancer.
Mrs. Goldfarb’s vegan corned beef launches in select Whole Foods this September. It will make its East Coast debut in New York City, Boston, and Washington D.C. in fall.
