Hail Merry - Raw Vegan Snacks

Hail Merry is a raw, vegan, gluten-free snack food company that was born out of yoga culture. The Founder, Susan O'Brien, first transitioned to a vegan diet, then went raw vegan as she felt that was a natural progression from her decade-long yoga practice. She trained under raw food chef, Juliano, and, along with her partners, began developing raw snacks. Today, Hail Merry products can be found in natural foods stores nationwide as one of the most mainstream raw vegan products available.

In case you are new to the raw vegan philosophy, its foundational principles are rooted in the idea that food that has not been cooked higher than 118-degrees maintains its natural enzymes and increases the bioavailability of its nutrients. Enzymes are necessary to properly digest food and absorb vital vitamins and minerals so without the natural enzymes, your body must work much harder to digest its food. Hail Merry dehydrates their snacks at low temperatures to protect these vital living enzymes.

I decided to try a bunch of their nuts, granola, and macaroons. Starting with their nuts, I will say that I'm generally not big into flavored nuts, but these nuts are so good, I would dare you to eat just one. The vanilla maple almonds were heavenly with just a hint of maple. I could definitely see these as ice cream toppers.

The chocolate chimayo chile pecans were lightly coated with chimayo chile pepper, dark cocoa powder, cracked black pepper and sea salt. These were the most unusual tasting of all the nuts and some of the best. With cocoa and a hint of chile, you really can't go wrong!

Oh, and then there are the orange rosemary pecans. These are so incredibly flavorful that you'll be saying, "wow," after the first bite.

The grawnola didn't disappoint either with chunks of buckwheat groats flavored with orange juice, maple syrup, and Madagascar bourbon vanilla along with lots of almonds, pecans, cranberries, sunflower seeds, and walnuts. This could become my new mid-morning snack.

And last, but not least, are the macaroons. With this amazing lineup of products, it is hard for me to choose a favorite, but if I had to, it would be the macaroons. I tried the Choco and Blonde. Both were a really nice texture -- not too moist and not too dry with just the right amount of flavoring. The chocolate ones in particular were incredibly rich!

I am really impressed with how great-tasting all of their products are. I now realize why I see them in every Whole Foods I go to wherever I am in the US.  After perusing their website, I found this really nice statement that I'd like to end on: "It is often said that we must first love ourselves before we can love others. We also must heal ourselves first before we can heal others. To bring about significant change in the world requires a sound body & mind so that we may aid and assist others. Declare Love™ for yourself and others through powerful, pure foods." Amen. To try them for yourself, order them here.