California’s Plonts (formerly Tezza Foods) emerges from stealth, claiming it is “creating a new category of cheese”, and launching its debut product — an aged plant-based cheddar — at selected restaurants in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Plonts describes itself as a “public benefit corporation that discovers and designs microbial communities to transform inexpensive plants into new categories of sustainable fermented foods.”
Nathaniel Chu and Josh Moser founded the company in 2019 to create a new type of nutritious, “stinky,” and sustainable plant-based cheese using an old biotechnology tool: fermentation. After years of working in stealth mode to develop an initial product, Plonts now announces an inaugural pilot plant in Oakland following a raise of $12 million.
Lowercarbon Capital led the seed round, which included additional investment from Litani Ventures, Accelr8, Pillar, Ponderosa Ventures, and several angel investors.
Plants, cultures, and time
Plonts uses the same process that turns milk into cheese but starts with soy instead of cow’s milk. To deliver the right tangy and cheesy flavors, the company has developed a blend of cultures and enzymes that transform the soy matrix into cheese.
The final product is said to offer the distinctive “stink” of traditional mature cheddar cheese, along with its flavor, stretch, and melting properties. Moreover, Plonts claims its cheese has around three grams of protein per serving compared to the often zero protein content in other plant-based cheeses.
“It maintains the cheesy, melty properties of cheddar and compels you to consider it in place of dairy cheese”
“Cheese was one of the first fermented foods. The flavors that people love in cheese—the funk of a camembert or the sharpness of a cheddar—don’t come from milk, which is bland. They come from the metabolism of microbes. Cheese is not a dairy product; it is a microbial product. Thus, our approach is to discover microbial ecosystems that transform plants into the flavors we love in cheese. We are creating a new category of cheese, akin to the creation of cheese from cow or goat milk,” explains the young company.
Discovering microbes to make plants delicious
“The big problem with corn and soy is that they aren’t that tasty. So we use cows to convert that corn and soy into something we actually want to eat: beef and cheese. At Plonts, we take a different approach: we take the most sustainable, inexpensive plants available and discover microbes that make them delicious.
“Because of the essentially infinite diversity of microbial ecosystems, we focus on finding the microbes that transform whatever ingredient is most sustainable, cheap, and nutritious into something delicious. Our searches may result in familiar foods from unfamiliar ingredients (e.g., cheese made from cheap plants) or entirely new categories of fermented products. In this way, we’re not trying to imitate beef and dairy. We are discovering the delicious potential of what plants and microbes can be.”
Plonts was co-founded by Josh Moser, with a background as an operator and investor in early-stage climate and sustainability companies and a recent partner at Petri, an early-stage venture capital fund; and Nathaniel Chu, with a background in ecology, evolution, and bioengineering, previously a PhD student at MIT, where he studied gut microbiome effects on inflammatory diseases.
Plonts is backed by a robust advisory team, including notable figures such as Scott Norton (founder of Sir Kensington’s), Bernhard Van Lengerich (former Chief Scientific Officer at General Mills), Peter Rahal (founder of RXBAR), and Brandon Jew (Head Chef of Mister Jiu’s, Moongate Lounge, and Mamahuhu). In addition, two team members are former Impossible Foods employees.
Initial launch in NY and SF restaurants
From today, 7th of August, Court Street Grocers, S&P Lunch in New York City, and Shuggie’s and Moongate Lounge in the San Francisco Bay Area will offer specific dishes featuring Plonts cheddar. Lovely’s Oakland will also serve burgers featuring the new aged cheddar.
Plonts says it worked closely with the chefs to create plant-based dishes for the cheddar’s debut. As part of the company’s marketing strategy, it partnered with comedian Kate Berlant for a launch video that uses humor to raise awareness about climate change and the benefits of plant-based options.
“Plonts is a new product with old-world sensibilities, providing yet another way to enjoy soy milk. It maintains the cheesy, melty properties of cheddar and compels you to consider it in place of dairy cheese. I believe in the product and now serve it on our Moongate Lounge menu,” shares Brandon Jew, Moongate Lounge & Mister Jiu’s founder and executive chef.
The company announced plans to introduce additional plant-based products and expand to new markets and retail locations. Find the full list of locations where Plonts is currently listed here.
