Easter 2024: I tried a NOMO vegan Easter egg this year - would I recommend it to parents?

Besides the holiday's enormous significance to Christians, the impending Easter long weekend also brings with it a rush of seasonal chocolatey eggs to supermarket shelves. From new takes on major confectionary companies' most popular products, to artisanal chocolatier's very finest offerings, there's something sweet available for everyone this time of year.

But as anyone with an adventurous palate and a sweet tooth could tell you, not all chocolate is made equal. Products riddled with cheaper ingredients riddle the market, leaving a bitter taste (and often a slightly greasy film) in chocolate lover's mouths. It's all too important that on the big day, you know you or your loved ones will be unwrapping something good.

That's why, as part of my vegan food review series, I opted to try one of the UK's most popular fully plant-based chocolate brands' egg this year. NOMO - short for 'No Missing Out' - is produced at a specialist factory in Norfolk, and its adorable Easter sets immediately caught my eye. Here's what I thought:

The taste test

When people think dairy free chocolate, they usually think dark. And while the rich, bittersweet taste of dark chocolate certainly has its fans, it can sometimes be a bit much for young people. Especially so in the holidays, when many kids want to tuck into something a bit more sweet, light, and palatable - and bright and cheerful rather than refined and elegant.

The NOMO range fill that gap in the market quite handily. Their Easter sets are beautifully packaged and come in lovely colours, and the addition of a cute wee bunny to many of them sets them apart from a plain hollow egg (which risks being a little bit unexciting - not what you want on the big day).

I bought the cookie dough set, which came with a filled bunny bar and a 'cookie dough crunch' chocolate egg, and tried both. The chocolate used for both was delectably creamy and sweet, without falling into the category of being sickeningly so. The creamy texture easily rivalled any of the more moderately priced dairy chocolate brands.

A quick look on the company's website showed me that a big part of this creaminess can be attributed to innovative plant-based ingredients - a real mainstay in Britain's vegan alternatives. In this case, they use inulin, a popular health food supplement. Found naturally in many plants, the inulin in NOMO chocolate comes from chicory root - which has a naturally sweet and creamy taste. It's hard to digest, making it a useful 'prebiotic' fibre, and as the company says: "All of this makes it a great substitute for milk in chocolate without adding more sugar or fat."

The bunny bar was largely composed of NOMO's incredible chocolate, and the cookie dough-flavoured filling tasted great too - with a tiny hint of salt that gave it real depth of flavour. If I were to have one bugbear though, the filling was a little more dry and crumbly than I would have liked.

The real standout, however, was actually the egg itself. The whole thing was generously sized and solidly built - good fun to crack into. Its 'crunch' texture was achieved with tiny pieces of puffed rice (akin to a Rice Krispie treat) and cocoa nibs. It was a winning combination, offering up a playful texture with a deep, chocolatey flavour - while remaining sweet and light enough that I really think most kids would love it.

The cost to the planet

For people who choose veganism for environmental reasons, one of the reasons they frequently opt to go entirely plant-based as opposed to just vegetarian is the dairy industry's impact on the environment. A United Nations Food and Agriculture report, published in 2019, found that the industry's greenhouse gas emissions worldwide increased 18% between 2005 and 2015, as consumer demand continued to rise.

According to The Grocer, with total global emissions currently around 50 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide or equivalent greenhouse gases, dairy emissions make up about 3.4% - largely from methane - which is almost double the impact of the aviation industry (1.9%). However as the UN report notes, the industry has become much more efficient, and without these changes its carbon footprint would have shot up a whopping 38% over the same period.

It is worth noting that there are also a number of other environmental concerns associated with the dairy industry worldwide; including run-off from farms carrying manure and fertilisers into local waterways, and unsustainable feed production leading to deforestation in other parts of the world.

While, I usually try to compare the carbon footprint of vegan products with a similar meat or dairy product, it was unfortunately a little tricky to find this information publicly available on NOMO's website. The company did not respond to my query as of the time of publication.

In terms of sustainability information I was able to find, NOMO's chocolate is Rainforest Alliance certified via "mass balance", meaning most of the cocoa used comes from farms which protect forests, human rights, and communities in the oft-vulnerable regions cocoa is grown.

While the 'metalized' wrappers on its chocolate bars cannot currently be recycled, the company said it is actively looking for ways to improve its packaging. It also claims to have sent zero waste to landfill for the last eight years, saying: "As a business we are committed to being a part of the solution when it comes to making the planet fit for future generations."

The cost at the till

I bought my NOMO egg at my local Sainsbury's, where it cost £6.50. This price was consistent across the range, including the chocolate fudge egg and bunny set, and the caramel egg and bar set. There was also, however, an 'ultimate' egg on offer for nearly double the price - £12. As well as the egg itself, it came with two filled bunnies, and eight miniature chocolate bars in a range of flavours, all vegan and allergy-friendly.

Looking at a few similar-sized packaged Easter egg products, the prices were not too dissimilar. The basic Cadbury range (including Creme Egg, Flake, and Dairy Milk/Caramel sets), which come with a hollow egg and two-to-three extra goodies, would set me back £5 each. A Lindt medium Easter egg, on the other hand, with two of its iconic gold bunnies (in miniature form) costs £6.25.

Overall, as is often typical with vegan alternatives, the pricing is more on par with a gourmet product. However, it's worth noting that there are many far more expensive dairy Easter egg sets and products on offer too - and for a once-a-year treat, £6.50 is not an awfully large amount to shell out. I feel the pricing is definitely fair for what you're getting.

The verdict - would I recommend this to parents?

As much as fellow sweet-toothed adults might disagree, the Sunday morning hunt for chocolatey treats is particularly special for kids. Part of what I think is so wonderful about this brand is that it helps ensure fewer kids miss out on what's meant to be a joyful experience. Dressed in playful pastels and bearing super cute bonus goodies, NOMO really lives up to its 'no missing out' mantra, making sure everyone from children with severe nut allergies to families trying to do better by the planet are included in the fun.

In terms of pricing, the Easter sets do come out a little more expensive than equivalent dairy products. But NOMO's more basic Easter offerings are definitely well within the acceptable range for a once-a-year treat, and are much cheaper than many of the more extravagant products on the shelves - making sure cost isn't locking families out.

Finally, it really did taste great - with none of that dastardly cheap chocolate aftertaste I've experienced with all too many vegan alternatives. The company has really embraced plant-based innovation to make its chocolate shine, from creamy inulin to crispy rice.

My own diet is admittedly no longer completely dairy free, but I would buy NOMO chocolate again in a heartbeat - and may even be tempted to stock up on a few discount eggs once the holiday season is over.