When people think about vegan food in Ghana, they might picture beans, plantain, kontomire or a bowl of jollof.

But plant-based food is also finding its way into packaged products, supermarkets, bakeries and mainstream food brands.

Some of these products may already be familiar to you. You might even have them in your kitchen without realising they are vegan.

Here are five surprisingly vegan products you can find in Ghana.

1. Fairafric Vegan Chocolate

Chocolate and veganism don’t always seem like they belong together. Milk chocolate, after all, gets its name from one of its key animal-derived ingredients.

But Fairafric offers a different approach.

The Ghanaian-made chocolate brand produces vegan chocolate using Ghanaian cocoa, combining plant-based ingredients with an emphasis on ethical and sustainable cocoa production.

For chocolate lovers, it’s a reminder that going vegan doesn’t necessarily mean giving up the foods you enjoy. It can simply mean finding a plant-based version.

And there’s something particularly special about enjoying vegan chocolate made from cocoa grown in Ghana.

2. Blue Skies Vegan Ice Cream

Ice cream is probably one of the last products many people expect to be vegan. After all, traditional ice cream is built around milk and cream.

Blue Skies, however, offers plant-based ice cream made with fresh coconut milk, providing a dairy-free alternative to conventional ice cream.

The product is a particularly interesting example of how familiar African ingredients can be used to create modern plant-based foods.

Coconut has long been part of Ghanaian and wider African food culture. Turning it into a creamy frozen dessert shows that plant-based innovation doesn’t have to mean using unfamiliar ingredients.

3. Boujie Cakes

Can you have a proper celebration cake without eggs, butter or dairy?

Absolutely.

Boujie Cakes is one Ghanaian business showing that vegan cakes can still be indulgent, creative and celebration-worthy.

From birthdays to weddings and other special occasions, plant-based baking is creating more options for people who avoid animal products, without asking them to give up the experience of having a beautifully decorated cake.

And that’s important because vegan food isn’t only about everyday meals.

Desserts count too!

4. Blue Band Plant-Based Margarine

This one might be the biggest surprise.

Blue Band has been a familiar name in Ghanaian kitchens for generations. But the brand now markets a plant-based margarine in Ghana.

The product is promoted as plant-based and highlights six vitamins and no cholesterol.

For consumers, this is significant because plant-based options are increasingly appearing outside specialist vegan shops and restaurants.

You don’t necessarily have to search for a niche vegan brand to find a plant-based product.

Sometimes, it’s a brand you’ve known for years.

5. DeliMush Mushroom Products

Mushrooms have become increasingly popular as a plant-based ingredient, but DeliMush is taking things a step further by turning locally grown mushrooms into processed food products.

Based in Tamale, Ghana, DeliMush works with mushrooms and other agricultural produce to create products including mushroom powder, mushroom sauces and fortified mushroom biscuits.

The idea also tackles a bigger issue: post-harvest food loss.

By processing mushrooms into products with a longer shelf life, the company is exploring how locally produced food can be preserved, transformed and given additional value.

For Ghana’s plant-based food sector, DeliMush is an interesting example of how African ingredients can become innovative commercial products.

Plant-Based Is Becoming More Mainstream

What’s interesting about these five products is that they don’t all look like traditional “vegan products.”

There’s chocolate, ice cream, cake, margarine and processed mushroom foods.

And that tells us something about the changing food landscape in Ghana.

Plant-based eating is no longer confined to a small selection of specialist restaurants or imported health products. Ghanaian businesses, and established brands operating in the Ghanaian market, are increasingly creating products that give consumers more plant-based choices.

For vegans, that’s more variety.

For businesses, it’s a growing market.

And for everyone else, it is another reminder that plant-based food can be much more diverse than you might expect.

You may already be eating some of it.

Vegan Africa News (VAN)

Reporting Africa. Inspiring Change.