Today we’d like to introduce you to Margaret Coons.
Hi Margaret, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
From an early age, I developed a passion for plant-based cuisine, becoming a vegan chef and experimenting with nuts and seeds to create deliciously creamy dairy-free cheeses. In 2015, I decided to open a farmer’s market stand in London, Ontario, and was overwhelmed with positive reception from consumers and local retailers who wanted to carry our products. Since launching at the farmer’s market, Nuts For Cheese™ has enjoyed explosive growth across Canada and the United States with our award-winning artisanal, organic, dairy-free cheeses, butter, and new cream cheese style spreads. Today, Nuts For Cheese™ employs 30+ people and operates from a 25,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in London, Ontario. Nuts For Cheese™ continues to scale year-over-year with a mission to create delicious, cashew-based, dairy-free, and vegan cheese for cheese lovers everywhere.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Early on, a key challenge was scaling my small-batch recipes from a commercial kitchen to international retail without compromising quality or using preservatives. We’ve worked tirelessly to maintain the same taste, texture, and quality while continuously meeting increased demand.
Thanks for sharing that. Could you tell us more about your business?
Nuts For Cheese™ offers a range of certified organic products, including 8 flavors of dairy-free cheese wedges, 3 flavors of dairy-free butter, 3 flavors of dairy-free cream cheese style spreads – all crafted with organic cashews and other simple, wholesome ingredients. Our chef-crafted recipes and hand-crafted processing techniques make Nuts For Cheese™ unique, using a proprietary fermentation and aging process that mimics traditional cheesemaking. Our products are made from the highest quality, ethically sourced ingredients without using starches, gums, fillers, preservatives, or artificial flavors.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Despite the challenges COVID-19 created for us and other small businesses, we continued production, supplied customers, facilitated a new product launch, and expanded into the United States. With major trade shows and other in-person events canceled, we shifted our focus and executed some of our long-term goals, one of which was launching into the US market. The lack of international travel was a hurdle, but we turned to digital initiatives to reach consumers and increase brand awareness.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nutsforcheese.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nutsforcheese/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nutsforcheese
- LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/company/nutsforcheese
