Vegan cheese is coming to menus created by some of the country’s most notable chefs. That’s because leading dairy-free brand Violife has announced its exciting partnership with renowned chefs to create unique culinary experiences.
The brand teams up four chefs: James Beard Foundation award-winning chef Michael Solomonov and Gregory Gourdet (a finalist for two seasons main cook); John Gabel, co-owner of New York and Miami pizzeria, Zazzy’s; and Danny Bouvien, author and owner of Mission Chinese Food.
Biolife
These chefs will create innovative recipes to add Violife’s signature vegan cheeses, butters and creams to their respective restaurant menus. Through this partnership, Violife aims to provide consumers with an enhanced culinary experience by combining the creativity and expertise of these chefs with dairy-free products.
“As the leader in plant-based and dairy-free cheeses, with an impressive list of pizza-centric cheeses, as well as a growing stable of other cheeses and products such as dairy-free spreads and creams, we aim to continue to grow. Awareness of plant-based eating within the foodservice and retail sectors provides chefs and consumers with more options when dining in or eating out,” Rachel Weinberg, senior marketing manager for foodservice, VioLife, said in a statement.
“We created this brand ambassador opportunity with that goal in mind and are excited to team up with these accomplished chefs to enhance Violife products and bring this mission to life,” he said.
Chefs embrace Violife’s dairy-free products
Through this partnership, the chefs will bring their expertise and creativity to the table to create recipes that highlight VioLife products, including a wide array of dairy-free cheeses in flavors such as Epic Mature Cheddar, Colby Jack Shades, Smoked Provolone Slice, and more. Just like feta, and shaved parmesan. Beyond cheese products, Violife offers plant butter, a line of dips, heaving whipping cream and cocoaspread (a decadent chocolate spread).
Biolife
Paul Pendergast, Vice President, Product, Paul Pendergast, “We look forward to working with these renowned culinary talents benefiting from their expertise, participation in various culinary events and creation of unique plant-based recipes and other content. In a statement development Dr.
This partnership follows another collaboration that challenged top chefs to work with Violife’s products last year, Top Chef Canada aired a vegan feast-themed episode in which contestants used plant-based products from Violife and margarine brand Basel—both owned by parent company Upfield.
The winning chef, Montreal-based chef Camilo Lapointe-Nascimento, wowed the judges with a cucumber granita made with white chocolate ganache, white chocolate crumble and Violife Original Creamy Cream Cheese.
Dairy-free for all
In addition to its new chef partnership, Violife is currently undergoing a refresh that will replace its “100 percent vegan” packaging statements with “100 percent dairy-free.”
Biolife
The change will not affect the vegan status of its cheese or butter but is meant to make the products more appealing to a wider range of consumers who choose dairy-free for a myriad of reasons.
It also speaks to the roots of Violife, a company started in Greece in the 1990s by three friends who wanted to continue eating things like cheese without breaking the 100-day Greek Orthodox fast that forbids the consumption of dairy products.
“We were and still are a very vegetarian-centric brand. This is our core audience,” BioLife Chief Marketing Officer Brian Orlando told VegNews. “But, people avoiding dairy is an incredibly large market. All you need to do is look into plant-based milk.”
“People are buying our products because they’re dairy-free and that’s a much larger audience,” Orlando says. “We have improved our product over time to a point where people are adopting it. The emphasis may have changed but we are still vegetarian.”
The move to broaden its appeal coincides with what Dan Buckstaff, chief marketing officer of market insight firm SPINS, says is a trend in consumer buying habits, where dairy-free products appeal beyond the vegan segment of shoppers.
Biolife
“There’s a misconception that only those following a plant-based or vegetarian diet are interested in these products, but that’s not the case,” Buckstaff told VegNews. “There are consumers who are flexible or even on a dairy-free diet who buy these products, or who choose them simply because they like the taste.”
“Plant-based dairy is very widespread and that’s what we’ve seen change over the last few years,” he says.
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Anna Starostenetskaya is Senior News Editor at VegNews and keeps an eye on all things vegan in her hometown of San Francisco, CA and beyond.