Miyoko’s Creamery has been crafting plant-based dairy products for some time now, snapping up awards for its vegan cheeses and butters. It recently launched its new Cultured Vegan Pizza Mozz for the foodservice industry, upping the ante for operators looking to court plant-based consumers.
"This new mozzarella, like our new cheddar and pepper jack, is a true game-changer. Based on the reception it has received in taste tests, we know our Cultured Vegan Pizza Mozz will appeal to omnivores as much as it will to vegans and vegetarians," said Miyoko Schinner, CEO and Founder of Miyoko's Creamery. "We've challenged ourselves in our research and development with the goal of eliminating the excuses to eat more compassionately. People eat a lot of pizza—billions of slices a year. When products made 100 percent from plants taste and perform like their cow dairy counterparts, it makes it easy for people to switch, and in turn, eat healthier while being more compassionate to animals and our planet."
According to a press release, the new mozzarella-style cheese tastes and looks like its fresh dairy counterpart, and can be used for pizzas, lasagnas, Philadelphia-style cheese steak sandwiches, and Italian style dishes. The first foodservice partner will be one of Northern California's cult favorite pizza chains, Pizza My Heart, debuting in its restaurants in Palo Alto, CA, and Monterey, CA.
"While Pizza My Heart has offered vegan options, we haven't always done it well. We have long searched for a mozzarella with the taste profile that would appeal beyond the hardcore vegan community. This is the first vegan mozzarella that we've tasted that can do that," said Spencer Glenn, CEO of Pizza My Heart. "With Miyoko's Cultured Vegan Pizza Mozz, we truly believe everyone, including our customers who are omnivores, have lactose intolerance, or other dietary issues, don't need to sacrifice taste and texture to enjoy our delicious pies and slices."
There will be two versions of the new cheese available to the foodservice industry, an organic version made with a cashew milk base and an allergen-free version, made with an oat milk and legume base and made with mostly organic ingredients.
"Leveraging our deep experience with our vegan epicurean cheese wheels and butters, we are able to take a number of traditional cheesemaking techniques and some novel and proprietary food science insights to achieve cow dairy taste and performance using legumes and oats," said Dan Rauch, Vice President of Research and Development at Miyoko's Creamery. "Our team will continue to look at ways to unlock the power of plants while having them meet or beat the taste and performance of their cow dairy counterparts."
The cheeses are non-GMO and made with whole ingredients. Once heated in the oven, the mozzarella takes on the quality of classic melted mozzarella. This innovation, along with the recipe and taste, was created by Miyoko's Research and Development team out of the company's headquarters in Petaluma, CA.
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