VEGAN CHEESE, A RAPIDLY GROWING CRAFT

Vegan Cheese, it's a thing, and as a craft, it is expanding rapidly. Our chef Karen, writes about it in the 25th anniversary issue of Permaculture magazine.

This past year, our chef, Karen, published her first book, The Art of Plant-based Cheesemaking, a book which began with respect to research and development 4 years ago. In the short amount of time that has past, the growth of vegan/plant-based cheese, and cheese analogs (i.e. non-cultured cheezes), has been exceedingly rapid.

In 2012/13, there were very few dairy free cheese like alternatives on the market beyond Daiya, Tofutti, and maybe one or two other lesser known brands depending on where you live.

In 2017, brands abound across the globe, not just the bigger name brands such as Miyoko's Creamery, Violife, Vtopia, but smaller, more artisanal craft products; Artisa Tasmania (Australia), Cheese the Queen, (Bulgaria), New Roots (Switzerland), Happy Cheeze (Germany), Cheesehound (Williamsburg, NY, USA), Blode Kuh (Los Angeles, CA, USA), and of course, us, Blue Heron (Vancouver, BC, CAN). By 2019, the dairy free foods sector anticipates global sales nearing $24 billion dollars. By end 2024 dairy free cheese/cheese analogs is anticipated to bring in $3.5 billion dollars in global sales.