Grocery Outlet Ethical Bargains

I picked up new Plant-Based Deli Slices from Lightlife at the Grocery Outlet, last week – Roasted Garlic and Korean BBQ varieties ($2.99 each). I’d recommend trying them and really doubt that you’d detect much difference to meat-based deli slices. I find that having products like these around helps me to stick to a plant-based diet – especially as a replacement for cheese, funnily enough. While I may have previously had cheese with toast for breakfast, I can now have deli slices (deli slices to the rescue!) when I want a change of scenery from the usual suspects of avocado/tomato, nut butters, etc. 

I’ve previously tried vegetarian turkey-style slices from Quorn and also some Field Roast mushroom & balsamic slices and, honestly, I think they’re all pretty good. Quorn’s deli slices are vegetarian while the Field Roast and Lightlife products are fully vegan. I like that the flavors of the Lightlife products are pretty subtle – the roasted garlic is not too garlicky and the Korean BBQ isn’t overwhelming, either (I don’t like most BBQ flavors, to be honest, unless really muted). The deli slices are good for breakfast or lunch – on toast or in a sandwich and combined with something fresh like avocados, tomatoes, lettuce, olives, etc.

Nutritionally, they provide quite a lot of protein and not too much fat. I was a bit disappointed that they were not made from organic soy as Lightlife’s tempeh products, reviewed here previously, are made by fermenting organic soybeans. Speaking of which, I did also find some Lightlife tempeh last week at the GO ($0.99!) and recommend trying it while it’s so cheap.

Lightlife Deli Slices: Ingredients and nutrition facts

These are not what you would call exciting in terms of nutritional content, but they are solid enough for what they are. Wheat protein (gluten), soy protein, and soybean oil are the major ingredients for both varieties, with various spices added for flavor.

Korean BBQ deli slices

Ingredients: water, wheat gluten, soy protein isolate, soybean oil, contains less than 2% of: sugar, brown sugar, salt, garlic powder, wheat starch, spices, natural flavor, carrageenan, yeast extract, soy sauce (soybeans, salt), sesame oil, gum arabic, maltodextrin, dehydrated garlic, lime juice solids, malic acid, spice extractives.

Roasted Garlic deli slices

Ingredients: water, wheat gluten, soybean oil, soy protein isolate, contains less than 2% of: tapioca starch, sugar, salt, calcium carbonate, wheat starch, carrageenan, garlic, natural flavor, spice, garlic powder, yeast extract, onion powder, gum arabic, sunflower oil, natural smoke flavor.

The Roasted Garlic variety provides 12 g protein per serving while being quite low in fat (3.6 g total, 0.5 g saturated).The Korean BBQ variety is similar in nutritional content except that a serving provides more protein (14 g), a little more sugar (2 g), and less calcium.

Ethical rating for Lightlife Deli Slices

First off, Lightlife is owned by Greenleaf Foods, an independent subsidiary of Canadian meat company Maple Leaf Foods. Greenleaf owns two plant-based food brands – Lightlife and Field Roast – and I’ve discussed this ownership in earlier posts on Lightlife tempeh and Field Roast deli slices. In short, rather than being distressed that the parent company sells meat, I’m comfortable with supporting a meat company’s move away from meat products. I’ve discussed this in two earlier GSP posts on supporting vegan brands and other ethical products, even when sold by multinational corporations with mediocre ethical track records. Time is running out to mitigate climate change and choosing plant-based products is a key action, no matter who makes them – as long as there are no major red flags.

I’m rating Lightlife Deli Slices 4/5 Green Stars for social and environmental impact for these reasons:

• Lightlife products are vegan. Adopting a plant-based diet is the top thing you can do to mitigate climate change, deforestation, animal cruelty, and food scarcity.
• The main ingredients, wheat and soy, are among the most sustainable crops (especially soy) in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, land and water use, and agrochemical pollution (Ref).
• It would be nice if these ingredients were organically-grown. However, the Non-GMO certification does count for something as it means that neonics and glyphosate are less likely to have been heavily used. (I’m not against genetic engineering, per se, but growing engineered crops usually entails the heavy use of harmful agrochemicals).
• Lightlife’s parent companies, Greenleaf Foods and Maple Leaf Foods, are both carbon-neutral through a mixture of GHG reduction efforts and offset programs. Lightlife: “We’re reducing gas emissions and neutralizing our remaining unavoidable emissions. By 2025, we aim to reduce our environmental footprint by 50% and our absolute carbon emissions by 30% by 2030.” Their existing GHG emissions are offset by various listed wind energy and forestry projects (e.g., Massachusetts Tri-City Forestry).
• Packaging is a plastic film – hard to avoid that for this kind of product – and it’s fairly lightweight.
• Room for improvement: Lightlife could do a better job at communicating on some social and environmental issues such as soybean sourcing or gluten manufacturing.

Summary scores (out of 5) for Lightlife Deli Slices:

4 gold stars for quality and value.

4 Green Stars for social and environmental impact

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