A rainbow-washing-free Pride?
June is Pride Month: when the LGBTQIA+ community jumps to the forefront of public awareness. Commercial brands worldwide advocate Pride, and it’s not without controversy, with criticism that certain activities risk a “commodification” of the gay rights movement.
At Fooditude, we want to do right by the LGBTQIA+ community.
Yes, inclusion and diversity are taken seriously within our company culture. And we benefit from our team’s talents, who hold a wide range of sexual or gender identities.
Absolutely! We love helping our clients celebrate with LGBTQIA+ parties within their teams.
But during Pride, we want to highlight what we think is awesome outside of our own company.
Celebrating Pride the Foodie Way
In 2022, we wrote a blog about LGBTQIA+ owned food and drink brands making exceptional produce. We loved writing it, and we felt it was our best way to get involved with Pride (without making it all about ourselves).
This year, we reflected on how many more LGBTQIA+ owned food and drink brands there were to celebrate, so we’ve updated the list.
But before we get onto our top LGBTQIA+ owned food and drink brands right now, here’s a quick recap of who caught our palette in 2022:
Now, without further ado: here’s the LGBTQIA+ owned food and drink brands we love in 2023:
More LGBTQIA+ foodie brands to support
Queer Brewing
This queer- and trans-owned brewery is on a mission to increase visibility and represent the LGBTQIA+ community through beer. And darn good beer. Initially launched as a collaboration project in 2018, Queer Brewing has since used ‘beer as a vehicle for change’.
Queer Brewing produces all sorts of beer, from their iconic ‘Witbier’ to pale ales and a range of IPAs, Queer Brewing are bound to have something that appeals to you.
What’s more is that through various collaborations with breweries all over the world, Queer Brewing have raised £25,000 for multiple LGBTQIA+ charities. So their ‘Drink beer; do good’ mission rings true.
Brighton Gin
Kathy Caton’s Brighton Gin is making waves in the LGBTQIA+ community. Not only are they an inclusive brand, but all of their gins are sustainably made, and delicious!
Beyond the events and activities they host to support LGBTQIA+ charities, Brighton Gin releases an exclusive, limited edition version of their Gin for Pride each year. And, for every bottle sold, Kathy donates to the Rainbow Fund, a grant-giving organisation who fundraise for various LGBTIQA+ and HIV+ groups throughout Brighton & Hove.
Happy Endings
This Queer led organisation makes downright delicious ice-cream. From soft serve to scrumptious ice-cream sandwiches, Terri Mercieca, the founder, wants her products to…
‘give people a fun and delicious moment to themselves, to feel too good to think about anything else. You’re opening that packet of ice cream sandwich joy, and what you’re getting, along with those dreamy creamy flavours and textures, is a whole lot of love and care for you, our supply chain and the environment.’
Simply put, Terri believes that ‘everyone deserves one’ – a Happy Ending that is.
What’s really exciting is we’ve put all our clients in touch with Terri and hope to see some exciting collaborations arise! Perhaps some ice-cream sandwich pop-up over summer?
SaucyB*tch
Founded by Dean Smith and his partner Steve Cook, this LGBTQIA+ saucy brand creates the tastiest hot sauces in London. Not only are their sauces 100% vegan, but they are community sourced…
Incorporated in the sauces are chilis harvested from The East London Chilli Growers Collective.
Plus, the Captain, the founders’ (very cute) dog, appears on the bottle as their mascot! How could you say no to that?
Toad Bakery
Want to show some support in person? Check out the newly launched TOAD bakery…
TOAD, an independent queer owned bakery in Camberwell just celebrated their first birthday. Pstt that’s right in the heart of our South-East London community!
TOAD are living wage accredited, and are all about creating a welcoming space for LGBTQIA+ individuals and for everyone else.
Plus, like us at Fooditude, TOAD uses seasonal ingredients (they also use sustainable UK-grown grain for all their bread) to create some seriously scrumptious pastries.
Looking for more foodie inspo?
Be sure to sift through Queerlit’s bookshop – they’ve got all sorts of cookbooks with recipes to devour!
Don’t forget to check out https://www.queersinfoodandbeverage.com/ – it’s an incredible platform that shines light on LGBTQIA+ people within the industry. That’s the positive representation we like to see.
That’s a wrap
We want to shine a light on exceptional LGBTQIA+ food and drink brands. Because we know that in our industry, ‘feeding people happy’ can only be achieved if inclusivity is at the heart of anything. There’s no space for prejudice here, and LGBTQIA+ food and drink brands are making all the difference in making positive change happen.
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