Miyoko's Creamery, a plant dairy brand known for its award-winning vegan cheeses and butter crafted 100% from plants, has launched Cultured Vegan Pizza Mozz, ready for immediate delivery to the foodservice industry. The new mozzarella-style cheese tastes and performs like its cow dairy analog and can be used for pizzas, lasagnas, Philadelphia-style cheese steak sandwiches and Italian style dishes--anything that would require a melted mozzarella. The first foodservice partner will be one of Northern California's cult pizza chains, Pizza My Heart, debuting in their restaurants in Palo Alto, CA and Monterey, CA.
"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% 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."
"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. Both are non-GMO and made with whole food ingredients. Unique to this cheese is that it comes in a liquid form that is easy and simple to apply in any foodservice operation. When heated in an oven, the cheese takes on the traditional stretchiness of classic melted mozzarella. This innovation, along with the recipe and taste, was created by Miyoko's Research & Development team out of the company's headquarters in Petaluma, CA.
"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."
