How brands can win in plant-based cheese

Gone are the days when plant-based cheese attracted consumers through novelty alone. Today’s growing expectations around taste, functionality and nutritional value are rewriting the innovation playbook and requiring a highly strategic approach from brands. Cheese alternatives, a category that has underperformed in recent years compared to other plant-based segments, needs to reinvent itself to remain relevant and accelerate growth at a time when traditional dairy gathers pace . But what makes plant-based cheese truly craveable – and how can brands adapt to meet the needs of shoppers and retailers alike? An award-winning alt cheese company tells all. Finland-based cheese alternatives company Mö Foods has consistently gained industry and consumer acclaim since its founding in 2017. The company makes alt cheese from freshly-made oatmilk through proprietary technology centered around minimum processing and zero-waste, helping the brand to achieve dairy-like taste, texture and performance with few ingredients. Mö Foods has made waves in Europe, capturing retail growth of 88% year over year in 2024, with products stocked across major Nordic retailers. Most recently, the company beat out 55 start-ups to win an innovation award in a Lidl Germany and ProVeg competition, adding to its Finnish Food Innovation of the Year 2024 and Best No-Goat Vegan Cheese 2024 accolades. The company is now aiming to expand globally after securing VC funding and hopes to license its production technology to other food producers. CEO and co-founder Annamari Jukkola spoke to us on what consumers and retailers want from modern plant-based cheese brands: and how the broader plant-based category is responding to evolving consumer preferences through innovation. “Retailers see plant-based dairy in a phase of correction and evolution, not decline,” Jukkola opened, adding that the focus today has shifted from rapid expansion and novelty to understanding which innovations truly add value. “Retailers prioritize products that strengthen the overall assortment, support full shopping missions, and deliver sales, margins, and retention,” she said. “For innovation pipelines, this means quality, clearer justification, stronger consumer relevance, and overall higher execution quality.” Taste remains most critical, especially in cheese, where enjoyment drives repeat purchase. “Price has also become increasingly important, with plant-based cheeses needing to compete alongside good quality dairy rather than remaining permanently high premium,” she added. “Brands must also deliver clear ingredient lists, category logic, strong shelf rotation, functional packaging, and marketing that supports ease of choice.” This approach applies across the board, Jukkola said. “Retailers need clarity on the unmet consumer need that product addresses. In fast-evolving plant-based categories, historical data alone can be misleading. “Up-to-date, new and early customer and consumer involvement, real-world testing, and validation of taste and functionality before launch are important, together with a clear commercial and consumer rationale.” All R&D must be consumer-driven for a product to succeed, Jukkola explained. “It is critical to understand the consumer interface and to be able to move quickly in a fast-evolving market. This also requires courage: being a pioneer often means facing skepticism, multiple viewpoints and practical challenges. “For us, R&D is always guided by our core values and long-term strategy. Taste, ease of use, the normalization of vegan products, structure and meltability are not individual features but strategic priorities. R&D is the tool through which these priorities are translated into real products that work in everyday consumption.” In short, products must deliver on taste, usability, price perception, and overall eating experience to compete credibly with both branded and private-label dairy, she said. Using familiar ingredients is also important. For the Finnish company, the familiarity of oats is both a strong USP and a way to boost its cheese’s nutritional profile. “Consumers value raw materials that are familiar and easy to understand,” Jukkola said. “Oats are a great example of this. Their widespread adoption in plant-based milks shows how powerful they can be as a base ingredient. “Oats allow us to introduce fibres into the cheese category, rely on locally familiar European sourcing, and deliver strong taste and texture.” A sustainable value chain is also paramount for dairy alternatives to succeed. The category has traditionally stood as an eco-friendly alternative to dairy, but has lost momentum in recent years as consumer demand for minimally-processed, natural foods has taken shape. This has put pressure back on the alt dairy industry to rethink its formulations and green-up its supply and processing capabilities. Mö Foods’ approach here is to lean on traditional dairy know-how. The company’s cheese alternatives are made from freshly made oatmilk while its processing technology minimizing waste by utilizing the whole oat during production, thus eliminating sidestreams. “Understanding traditional dairy processing is essential, as plant-based products must function within the same industrial and consumer context,” Jukkola said. “At the same time, plant-based raw materials require very specific approaches. We combine dairy-like process discipline with fundamentally different practices, such as fully zero-waste production.” This approach is important both from a sustainability perspective and in terms of appealing to the modern health-conscious consumer, who is more willing to pay a premium for sustainable products . As plant-based cheese enters a new era, the category remains a high-growth arena that’s expected to reach a valuation of nearly $11bn in 2035 (CAGR: 12.1% based on Future Market Insights data). While sales in the US have declined in 2024, the segment showed resiliency in some European retail markets such as Italy and Spain, according to Good Food Institute data. Foodservice will become increasingly influential, with Future Market Insights estimating around a third (31.4%) of plant-based cheese is sold B2B. Foodservice will also be key to reaching new and lapsed consumers, given it’s a low-risk environment for consumer trial compared to retail. But to really appeal to the modern shopper, brands must focus on elevating taste, functionality and nutrition: all areas that have proved barriers to purchase. Mö Foods’ Jukkola says it is “essential” that improvements in nutritional value are not achieved at the expense of taste or texture. “Sensory quality is also crucial,” she told us. “There are naturally nutritional differences when the raw material base changes, and we do not believe plant-based products need to reach a strict 1:1 nutritional match with dairy in every aspect. For example, achieving 100% equivalent protein levels will likely take more time in plant-based development. “At the same time, plant-based cheeses can offer other nutritional advantages, such as lower saturated fat content or the inclusion of functional fibers.”