I guess cheese is almost everyone’s favourite. We all love to have a bit of cheese in rolls, burgers, pizzas, pastas and so on. The list of the recipes are endless. But the major concern the vegans or the plant-based diet followers face is having a trusted vegan cheese. So today in this post, we are going to look into the vegan cheese industry.
What is vegan cheese?
Vegan cheese is mainly made up of plant-based milk and is a complete non-dairy product. Vegan cheese are available in various categories based on its composition. You can find soft-made vegan cheese and can also find hard-made cheese like plant-based Parmesan cheese too. Vegan cheese can also be made with various plant-based milk options, vegetable fats and vegetable protein.
History of vegan cheese
Vegan cheese or let’s say non-dairy cheese was first produced in China in the 16th century. Chinese used soy milk and tofu to make non-dairy cheese for the first time. Later on, various experiments provided a variety of non-dairy cheese production process. The manufacturers started using hard plant-based margarine to make the hard cheese.
Commercially, vegan cheese was launched in the 1970s and 1980s. In the early 1980s, the first and only brand named Soymage (USA) was available and know for making non-dairy cheese. Initially, it took time to get popularity in the market compared to the animal milk based cheese. The vegan cheese were slippery, chalky and plasticky in appearance. But with time and more research, the brands innovated the vegan cheese industry.
Mozzarella and cheddar vegan cheese varieties became popular. Nowadays, vegan Parmesan, Gouda and cream cheese are easily available. International brands like, Chao, House Party, VioLife, Daiya, Trader Joe’s are extremely popular.
Among the Indian vegan cheese brands, The Vegan Co., PlantWise, Plan B, Bombay Cheese and Soft Spot are the well-known ones and are easily available online.
Health Benefits of vegan cheese
1. Its more environment friendly as its made from plants. Its producing less carbon footprints, and not harming any animals per se.
2. Its easy to digest as it is lactose free.
3. Its not very difficult to buy in the market. E-shopping platforms are also selling vegan cheese.
4. Its free from casein and lactose that’s why its good for your gut health. Researchers couldn’t find intestinal permeability among the regular eaters. That’s why it doesn’t give bloating, gas, diarrhoea or abdominal ache too.
5. No carcinogenic components available in plant-based cheese as it doesn’t include any animal protein. The Plant Based Food Association approved the mass production and availability of the vegan cheese in the market.
Downside of having vegan cheese
Its comparatively low in calcium and protein than animal milk cheese. Most vegan cheese are processed as it goes through lot of manufacturing processes while converting it from the plant based milk to vegan cheese. Those who have nut allergies cannot consume vegan cheese at all. It can give them major health hazards. In some of the vegan cheese brands, they use coconut milk and coconut oil, thats why its rich in saturated fat.
Commercial business of vegan cheese
Recently, GreenVie won for the 4th time at the International Cheese and Dairy Awards. It is a Cyprus-based vegan cheese brand, uses coconut oil to make Greek yogurt, Gouda, cheddar, mozzarella cheese and so on. this year GreenVie won the titles “Best cheese in processed cheese section”; “Best vegan feta”; “Best vegan cheese slices” and “Best vegan cheese for pizza”. Mainly its so famous because its free from lactose, soy, gluten, dairy and palm oil.
Presently, GreenVie is available in almost 20 countries. If you are in the UK, then you can find it in Marks and Spencer stores. They are also finding ways to popularise products in more countries. They are coming up with the ad campaigns for Asian countries too.
Popularity of vegan cheese
About 2 decades ago, this was a niche food business and there were barely any manufacturers. Now, many people realised their intolerance to lactose and open to try new options. The vegan cheese market was predicted to reach till USD$2.24 billion by 2022. Its projected to increase till USD$5.63 billion by 2030. The new waves of dairy alternatives are encouraging consumers to try out variety of vegan milk and cheese.
Its quite ethical, environment friendly and sustainable for the consumers and for the environment. In the traditional dairy farms, cows are kept in an unhygienic ambience. They are forced to give birth to calves and then the farms drain out all of their milk. Cows suffer quite a lot. Male calves are also taken away from the mothers and are delivered at the slaughter houses for meat and skin. The dairy industry also contributing a lot to the greenhouse gas emission as the process is quite extensive.
Its a proven fact that, plant-based milk and plant-based/vegan cheese are not providing enough calcium and protein to the consumers. But nobody can argue that its beneficial for your overall health. It won’t give you health issues or digestion issues as its free from many components available in animal milk. So try this out in your wraps, pizzas, pasta and burgers today, I’m sure you won’t regret. I don’t regret at all.