Is cheese the latest category to be disrupted by start-ups?

Nobell foods make a strong claim on their website: “Animals are an inefficient and unsustainable technology for making dairy and feeding people.”

Founded by an engineer, Nobell’s founder goes on explaining, “you need about 3kg of food and up to 4,500 litres of water to make 4 litres of milk.”

Nobell’s sales pitch, at least to the tech savvy folk in Silicon valley seems to be working. The company has raised over $100m to date from a red carpet list of investors.

What’s far less clear is what Nobell will sell. That is kept tightly under wraps on their web site at least. However, one news report I read last weekend, claimed Nobell will launch a plant based cheddar and mozzarella some time late in 2022.

On the surface this does not sound so innovative compared to what’s already out there.

Given the investment I’m wondering if there’s more cooking so to speak?

Photo by Roam In Color

Plant cheese is not a new category. Daiya claim to be industry leader in the US, along with Violife in Europe. They are not alone, other players include Parmela Creamery and Miyoko creamery.

However none of these have raised anything like the amount of Nobell.

Most plant based cheese brands target vegans.

Vegans today are still a niche demographic, however they are growing rapidly. In the US just under 10 million follow a vegan diet. India has one of the largest vegan populations.

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