SHEESE, the vegan cheese made by Bute Island Foods, is the UK’s fastest-growing plant-based cheese brand with a reported 74% growth. Today it announces a total rebrand and its biggest ever marketing investment in the company’s history, as part of its drive to become the leading plant-based brand in the UK grocery market.
Still based on the island of Bute in the Old Creamery where it began 30 years ago, the multi award-winning SHEESE is now a £10m+ brand with new state of the art production facilities which have seen the company grow and production increase by 400% in order to meet the growing demand for dairy alternatives.
Nigel White, marketing director for the Sheese brand comments: “We know consumers are increasingly looking for plant-based alternatives across a range of categories, and dairy is high up on their list, with vegan milks initially leading the way but now cheese alternatives are following suit. In the US where the plant-based market is booming, plant-based cheeses are growing at an even faster rate than plant-based milks. This trend has crossed the Atlantic, providing huge opportunities for retailers and brands like Sheese.
“However, those consumers who are making the switch to plant-based – whether vegan or flexitarian – tell us they want greater choice, but with more emphasis on quality rather than just quantity, not only in terms of taste and texture but also on having ‘clean’ ingredients that deliver from on health. Currently, there is little premium element to the UK dairy free cheese fixture, presenting a huge opportunity for retailers as well as brands. The Sheese 100% dairy free premium range is ideally placed in this respect to offer consumers what they are looking for from dairy frees.”
Currently available in Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Ocado, Holland & Barrett and thevegankindsupermarket.com, SHEESE is looking to build its distribution in 2021 in the UK and overseas. Parent company Bute Island Foods is already succeeding in the exports market, with it already seeing significant international growth in the US, Canada and Australia.
