South Africa has done it again, securing another major win on the world stage as There’s a Vegan on My Verandah celebrates a second global victory.
Global (02 December 2025) – South Africans love a win… not because we’re chasing trophies, but because every success story feels like one of our own. And this one is plated, garnished, beautifully bound and celebrated on the world stage… again.
A proudly South African book has just been crowned the best on the planet, for the second time… proving, once more, that our creativity can go toe-to-toe with anyone, anywhere.
The prestigious Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, founded in 1995 by Edouard Cointreau, celebrate the very best in food and wine writing across the globe. They’re often dubbed the “Oscars of the culinary world,” recognising not only top-tier recipes but also storytelling, design, and cultural significance. The 2025 ceremony marked 30 years of honouring authors who turn food into art… and South Africans stepped up in the most spectacular way.
In 2023, Louis Jansen van Vuuren and Isabella Niehaus’ There’s a Vegan on My Verandah stunned the judges by winning the title of World’s Best Vegan Book. A year later, their follow-up, Earthling Food, took top honours. And now, in 2025, lightning has struck twice… There’s a Vegan on My Verandah has won again.
That’s not just rare. That’s extraordinary.
Speaking to Good Things Guy, Louis Jansen van Vuuren said, “Edouard Cointreau of the World Gourmand Awards wrote on our award certificate the following: There is clearly a ‘before’ and after’ There’s a Vegan on my Verandah. The perspective you bring is refreshingly different from most vegan books: thoughtful, elegant and deeply human.”
“All I have dreamed of to achieve with this publication has come true. Isabella and I worked together like never before. Mission complete!”
There’s a Vegan on My Verandah is a celebration of flavour, friendship, art, coastal living, warmth and imagination. The recipes aren’t simply vegan. They’re invitations. Meals that make you want to linger on a stoep overlooking the sea, share stories, laugh loudly and remember that food is as much about connection as it is about ingredients. Every page is infused with Louis and Isabella’s unique blend of artistry, storytelling and a deep love for the South African landscape.
And that’s why this win matters.
South Africa is filled with people who create with their whole heart… authors, artists, cooks, dreamers. And moments like this remind us of the global calibre of our talent. When two local creatives can stand against the best of the best and still rise to the top, not once but twice, it says something powerful about who we are.
It says we’re capable. It says we’re inspired. It says that our stories. Our flavours, our culture and our voices deserve their place on the world stage.
And today, that place is right at the very top.
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