Dutch Vegan Brand Willicroft Raises €2 Million To Bring Legume Cheese To Europe

Dutch plant-based cheese brand Willicroft just raised €2 million to bring its products to more markets.

PINC (the venture arm of international food and drink company Paulig) and Rockstart (an early-stage investor focused on purpose-driven founders) led the round; they were accompanied by Doehler Ventures and Feast Ventures. 

Willicroft, a former dairy farm that converted to a plant-based brand in 2018, will use the funding to expand its products across Europe.

The brand’s This Is Not Classic Cream Cheese and This Is Not Cheese Fondue is already available in the UK, the brand’s native Netherlands, and Belgium. 

But Willicroft has now created an updated and rebranded range of cheeses, the majority of which are made with beans and pulses. According to CEO Brad Vanstone, the new range “produces up to five times less CO2 than the dairy alternatives it’s replacing.”

However, the brand’s parmesan alternative, simply named Italian Aged, is currently made with cashew nuts, as Willicroft hasn’t perfected a new bean-based recipe for the product yet. 

Vanstone said in a statement: “With this new raise locked in we’ll be bringing our delicious, beautifully branded range of [plant-based cheese] to three new markets: the UK, Germany, and the Nordics, bringing in senior hires and continuing on our quest to become the world’s first net-positive plant-based cheese company.”

Vegan cheese market expands

The vegan cheese sector is growing. According to Grand View Research , its global value hit more than $2.4 billion last year and is set to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 12.6 percent over the next eight years.

The market research company cited growing awareness of environmental and animal cruelty concerns as key driving factors of the market.

To produce the milk needed to make cheese, dairy cows are repeatedly impregnated. When they give birth, their calves are taken away and either used in the same way as their mothers in the dairy industry, or sold for slaughter. 

The dairy industry is also detrimental to the planet; 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from animal agriculture.

But consumers don’t have to choose dairy, because vegan alternatives are leveling up in terms of taste, texture, and accessibility. Marika King, the head of PINC, said in a statement: “Willicroft is by far the tastiest plant-based cheese range we have come across.”

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Written by Charlotte Pointing for Plant Based News.