The Vegan Hot Dog Brand That Failed Our Taste Test Has Been Around Since The '80s

Some brands just need more time to figure it out. Others have had over four decades — and still miss the mark. That's what made Tofutown's showing in Daily Meal's vegan hot dog taste test especially baffling. The brand, which launched its Viana line of plant-based sausages and meat alternatives over 20 years ago, landed dead last in a ranking of eight major contenders. And not by a close margin.

Daily Meal's panel judged the franks based on texture, taste, price, and availability. But for Viana, the tasting stopped early — literally. "We couldn't even bear to move these past the mustard round," the review stated. Instead of a smoky snap or satisfying bite, testers got something closer to soft, warm tofu shaped into a hot dog mold. The ingredient list — featuring bell pepper, tomato paste, and an oddly sweet profile — did little to rescue it. Even the visual comparison felt off: "Basically looks like smoked, baked tofu," one note read. It is nowhere near being one of the best plant-based sausage links — though with stats like 140 calories and 15 grams of protein per dog, it almost fools you into thinking it might be.

It's not often a product feels this out of sync with the category it helped pioneer. Tofutown has been in the tofu game since 1981, when it began as a German tofu collective operating out of a butcher shop. Decades of experience should've been their edge. Instead, they turned out a frankfurter that didn't even make it through the condiments.

Tofutown didn't pop up overnight. Its roots trace back to the early 1980s, when it was founded as part of a tofu collective in Germany — long before oat milk was cool and long before "plant-based" was a buzzword. The company officially launched its Viana Naturkost GmbH brand in 1988, producing tofu products out of a former butcher shop in Cologne. And by the early 2000s, the company rebranded as Tofutown and ramped up production of its soy-based sausages, burgers, and meatless goulash — exporting across Europe and eventually to the U.S.

The company leans heavily into its ethical branding, emphasizing organic ingredients, recyclable packaging, and sustainable sourcing — like Austrian-grown soybeans and a commitment to minimizing transport distance. But all that intention doesn't change what lands on the plate. Its Viana franks may be organic, and though they're vegan, they're not gluten-free hot dogs — which only narrows the appeal further.

At the end of the day, mission alone doesn't save a sausage. If your hot dog crumbles, lacks smokiness, and leaves people pushing their plates away, you might as well make yourself a carrot dog — they are the vegan hot dog substitute you've been waiting for after all. Tofutown's decades of tofu expertise may be admirable, but after 40 years, it's fair to ask: how did it go so wrong?