There are plenty of reasons to explore the diverse world of vegan cheese.
I have worked in the cheese industry for about two dozen years, and mostly experienced a mix of outright dismissal and turning up of noses at the very concept of vegan cheese. “Vegan cheese is just not cheese,” has been a refrain I’ve heard from cheesemongers, makers and connoisseurs.
But whatever it is, vegan cheese is better than ever. A creative, dedicated cohort of innovators, entrepreneurs, and food scientists are hard at work crafting vegan cheese that foodies will determine is, in fact, cheese. And not just any cheese — delicious cheese.
“We have a motto: Make cheese or die trying,” says Sorosh Tavakoli, founder and chief executive of Stockeld Dreamery, a vegan cheese company based in Sweden and New York City. He explains, “either we make something people perceive as cheese, or it’s not going to work.”
Plant-based milks have become 16% of the liquid milk Americans buy in grocery stores. Vegan makers are betting cheese might be next in terms of growing popularity.
“As we continue to see more climate volatility, it will get more expensive to produce meat and cheese,” explains Tavakoli. “We need better solutions. Making cheese requires the most water of any food product, and ranks third worst in greenhouse gas emissions, after red meat and farmed cheese. Enter plant-based cheese.”
The vegan cheese market is projected to reach $86.1 million in 2031, from $23.1 million in 2024.
The vegan cheese market is projected to reach $86.1 million in 2031, from $23.1 million in 2024, according to a recent report from Persistence Market Research. Increasing lactose intolerance, rising vegan and flexitarian eaters, and environmental concerns associated with the dairy industry are drivers for this significant growth.
Vegan cheese is not just for people eschewing dairy. Whether you have an allergy, want to decrease your carbon footprint, or are just open enough to try something new, there are plenty of reasons to explore the increasingly diverse world of vegan cheese.
WHAT IS VEGAN CHEESE, ANYWAY?
Vegan cheese is cheese devoid of animal products. According to RIND co-founder Dina DiCenso, “instead, it’s made from ingredients like nuts and vegetables and goes through similar cheesemaking processes to develop flavors and textures.”
Almonds, macadamia nuts, peanuts, pine nuts, and pumpkin seeds might be the primary ingredient in vegan cheese. Others are made with soy, tofu, legumes or coconut.
Cashews are one of the most popular bases for vegan cheese. They’re rich in fat, have a fairly neutral taste and can be mixed with water to make a smooth milk-like emulsion.
Makers then may add oils, starches, and flavors to more closely approximate dairy cheese. Most artisanal varieties are then inoculated with cultures and fermented, a process that creates more depth and character. Some are matured, although for less time than most of their dairy cheese cousins.
RIND, for example, “features three unique lines of cheese: cave-aged, French-style vegan cheeses, cashew cheese spreads, and veggie cheese slices — all made without any dairy,” says DiCenso. What sets us apart is our use of traditional cheesemaking and aging techniques, showing that exceptional cheese can be made without any animal products.”
After DiCenso started eating a vegan diet, she missed the soft-ripened, European-style cheeses she loved. So, she tried her hand at making her own.
“I then partnered with fellow vegan and cheese enthusiast Joshua Katcher, and we launched RIND in 2017,” she says. “Committed to crafting artisanal vegan products, we built the first authentic vegan cheese cave in North America.”
So far, it’s been a success. RIND cheeses have received multiple sofi awards from the Specialty Food Association and a Shelfie from StartupCPG, and in 2022, RIND became the first vegan cheese sold in Whole Foods Markets’ artisanal cheese cases in NYC, and their aged cheese debuted at Erewhon in 2024.
Some vegan cheesemakers are striving for not just a tasty product, but a better world. Maria Palme started GreenVie, a vegan cheese brand, in Cyprus in 2016. “At GreenVie, we are not just creating vegan cheese; we are pioneering a sustainable future where taste and environmental responsibility go hand in hand,” she says.
A MIX OF ART AND SCIENCE
Before starting Stockeld Dreamery, Tavakoli’s perception was that “vegan cheese was so bad; it tastes like plastic or rubber.” With a background in software, Tavakoli was new to the food world and determined to innovate. He “came in with the mindset of trying to create a better product and invest in whatever research and development we needed to do that.”
His co-founder has a food science background, and they started experimenting with legumes in their products, which were accessible and affordable compared to nuts, plus packed with protein.
Even with serious resources and investment, it’s not easy to recreate a dairy-free version of cheese, a product nearly as old as civilization itself, and deeply beloved.
There are a few reasons for this. First, cheese has a unique structure that allows it to be solid at room temperature and melt as the temperature rises. Vegetable fats, like coconut oil and palm oil share this property, but they lack the ability to stretch when they melt. The protein in milk called casein is to thank for this superpower of cheese.
Nobody had been able to create a vegan casein — that is, until a California biotech company called Climax Foods used artificial intelligence and data science to create a new formula that mimics casein on a molecular level. Climax Foods is teaming up with cheese producers, including 150-year-old French cheese giant Bel Group, to create vegan versions of favorite dairy cheeses.
New Culture is another vegan cheese company to watch, working on mozzarella that melts and stretches like the real deal in San Francisco, CA. They manufacture casein via precision fermentation to create mozzarella with all that gooey, meltable goodness the original cheese is famous for.
PLANT-BASED CHEESE WORTH TRYING
Walk up to the Rebel Cheese counter in New York City’s Essex Market, and it looks just like — well — an abundant cheese counter. There’s just one thing missing: dairy.
Rebel’s cheeses include an aged cheddar, a truffle Brie, a garlic chevre, and an aged Cotswold, plus a rich assortment of imported cheeses and meatless charcuterie. In their Austin, TX, shop in the Texas Mutual building, they also sell sourdough crackers, local jams, vegan pimento cheese spread and vegan wines.
Husband and wife founders Kirsten Maitland and Fred Zwar wanted vegans to be able to experience the same broad selection and delicious options as other cheese lovers. They also took Rebel Cheese to Shark Tank, where their lineup of flavorful cheeses won them an enthusiastic investment.
For the vegan cheese curious, there is so much more to try. RIND’s Classic Cambleu is an excellent choice for blue cheese lovers. Its deep blue rind makes it stand out on a cheese plate, and it’s full of the deep earthiness and a peppery zing of any high-quality blue. It’s creamy enough to spread on a sea salt cracker — and would be fantastic with a drizzle of wildflower honey on top.
GreenVie makes slices, shreds, and dips with their vegan cheese, ideal for cooking.
Many vegan cheesemakers embrace flavors. In Portland, OR, Vtopian Artisan Cheeses makes cultured cashew cheese in small batches using organic fair-trade cashews and locally sourced ingredients. Their offerings include peppercorn brie, caramelized onion camembert, and a spicy aged cheddar topped with their own habanero hot sauce.
Over at Stockeld Dreamery, the cultured cream cheese is the signature product. It’s made with a blend of chickpea protein and lentil protein.
“Our cream cheese is awesome on a bagel,” says Tavakoli. “It’s different than dairy cream cheese in a good way. It’s less indulgent and less fatty, with a less intense flavor — it has a tang, but it’s a lighter experience.”
Tavakoli would like to see vegan cheese marketed not just for “it doesn’t have this, doesn’t have that,” he explains. “I’d like to share what it does have, like live probiotics and great flavor.”
