Week of Jun 25 - Jul 1

Canada Day, vegan eats, and a few things worth thinking about

June 25, 2026

Canada Day is just around the corner, and this week's edition eases you into it nicely. Tonight there's karaoke at The Lab to kick off the weekend early, and tomorrow Vegan Drinks heads to a new venue on Eglinton for an evening of Ethiopian and Eritrean-inspired plant-based food and good company.

There’s also a worthwhile read on the history of Impossible Foods, and a sobering update from the global alt-meat industry as another well-funded startup shuts its doors.

However you're spending the Canada Day, we hope there's good vegan food involved!

This Week:

📅 Thursday, June 25, 2026
🕒 8:00–11:00 p.m.
📍 The Lab Vegutainment Centre, 108 Dundas St W, 2nd Floor
🎟️ CA$5

VegTO's first-ever karaoke night, hosted by Mike and Priya of Life Is in the Lyrics, in celebration of Pride Month. Vegan snacks from Cupcakes by Conrad and drinks are available for purchase; an optional expressive dress code is encouraged.

📅 Friday, June 26, 2026
🕒 6:30–9:30 p.m.
📍 Chic Peas Veg, 1610 Eglinton Ave W (across from Oakwood station)
🎟️ Free admission

Toronto Vegan Meetup's monthly Vegan Drinks social heads to Chic Peas Veg, a plant-based pop-up restaurant serving Eritrean and Ethiopian-inspired vegan cuisine. The drop-in event is open to vegans and non-vegans, with a full food and drinks menu available for purchase and an outdoor patio for the evening.
(Event details are accurate to the best of my knowledge at the time of publishing. Events are intended to be vegan, but details may change, please confirm directly with the organizer if you have specific concerns.)

Product of the Week

Each week, I share a vegan product I think you should know about. Some links are affiliate links, at no extra cost to you.

Handcrafted, bean-to-bar vegan chocolate turtles made with organic pecans, 70% Peru dark chocolate, and a house-made vegan caramel, in a ½ lb bag for $18.49.

The Organic House is a Burlington-based, award-winning chocolate maker and their chocolate is entirely vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and made from ethically sourced, directly traded, traceable cacao beans. Every turtle is made by hand in small batches over two days, with nothing artificial and no stabilizers!

Worth Noting:

VegNews published a detailed feature this week tracing the full history of Impossible Foods, from its founding in 2009 by Stanford biochemist Patrick Brown to its current lineup of over a dozen plant-based products. The piece covers the original Impossible Burger's debut at Momofuku Nishi in New York, its rapid expansion into fast food through the Impossible Whopper, and the eventual rollout of nuggets, sausages, steak bites, corn dogs, hot dogs, and more. It also takes an honest look at the health question — acknowledging that while Impossible products are nutritionally superior to their animal-based equivalents, they're still processed foods best enjoyed in moderation. Worth a read if you're curious about how one company helped reshape the conversation around plant-based eating over the past decade and a half.

SWAP Food — formerly known as Umiami, a Paris-based plant-based whole-cut meat startup that had raised over €100 million since its founding in 2020, entered judicial liquidation on June 15 and has ceased operations. The company was best known for its "Umisation" texturizing platform, which transformed plant proteins into structured fibres without high heat or pressure, and had distribution in both the US and Canada through Gordon Foodservice and Sysco Canada. Despite doubling growth and cutting fixed costs by 50% over the past year, CEO Hervé Salomon cited a global meat substitute market slowdown, heavy debt load, and low investor appetite as hurdles the company could not overcome. It's a sobering reminder that even well-funded, technically innovative plant-based companies are not immune to the current headwinds facing the alt-meat industry.

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On The Horizon:

*(more info will come closer to the dates)

  • Vegan Night Market
    📅 Thursday, July 16, 2026, 6:00–9:30 p.m.
    📍 Balmy Beach, 2205 Queen St E
    Free admission

  • Vegan Paint, Sip & Snack

    📅 Saturday, August 1, 2026, 2-5:30 p.m.
    📍 The Lab Vegutainment Centre, 108 Dundas St W

    A guided painting afternoon hosted by 5 Principles Cuisines, with all supplies provided along with one beverage and five courses of vegan small plates included in the ticket price. No painting experience required; spaces are limited.

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