Goodbye Gardein!

I have several curses. One is that I am always destined to have really bad luck with Toronto's public transportation system. There is always some problem, delay or crisis when I am trying to get somewhere. Its almost impossible for me to go anywhere in this frickin city without arriving furious, frustrated and seething.

One of my other curses is that products I like, whether they be food, cosmetics or whatever, stop being made. Its happened to me so many times I've lost count. Adam points out that this is just because I am weird and clearly my preferences are not shared by the majority of other people. Fair enough.

But this latest incidence of losing loved products (yes products, meaning multiple!), is apparently not because of low demand, but because of a 'production problem', or so the company says.

I'm talking about Gardein, which makes some of my most favorite vegan meat products.

As you know, I am an omnivore, but I do try to to eat veggie somewhat, and, frankly, I love me some good veggie meat! I absolutely ADORE Gardein's Beefless Tips and Meatless Balls! Like I like them more than the meat equivalents!

I started getting suspicious when I noticed they were no longer on the shelves at a few places around here. Given my history with disappearing favorite products, I immediately suspected the worst, and, unfortunately, was right. A quick visit to their Facebook page, where many Canadians were posting questions about why the products were no longer available, were being met with obnoxiously chipper responses from the company citing the production problem as the reason, and comforting us that they would still be continuing to sell about 5 of their products in Canada (none of which I eat) or we could buy the products online (from a U.S. company where they cost twice what they cost in store, not including shipping!).

Well, that's the end of it for me. I'm not going to spend a ridiculous amount of money to buy them online (though admittedly I am tempted to take a trip across the border and fill my trunk...). What pisses me off the most is that the company is Canadian! But now, they are only selling the majority of their products in the U.S. Go F yourself Gardein!

I will console myself with the fact that I've managed to move on from all my other long lost favorite products and lived to tell the tale. I suppose I will survive this too.

While we may no longer have Beefless Tips here in Canada, we still have universal health care, gay marriage, abortion, and all sorts of other good things. So there's that.

I scoured all the stores that used to carry my Gardein favorites and managed to snag 4 additional bags of Beefless tips (I still have one bag of Beefless Tips in my freezer...it may get eaten this weekend). I also bought a package of their veggie burgers that I haven't tried before. I didn't manage to get any Meatless Balls.

Happy Friday folks. Go have yourself a great weekend, and if you're in the U.S. eat some Beefless Tips or Meatless Balls and think of me.