New York-based Pleese Foods, supported by Harlem incubator Hot Bread Kitchen and backed by Big Idea Ventures’s New Protein Accelerator, debuts a game-changing pizza cheese developed with the help of pizzerias across New York and with a big difference. Co-founder Kobi Regev tells us the secret behind what makes this one unique.
Pleese Foods’ vegan cheese is produced with sufferers of allergens in mind, without the use of dairy, soy, seeds, or gluten, and not a nut in sight. The company is conducting test runs with chefs and restaurants across the US, with a consumer version due to be available for online sales from this July. The cheese will be introduced to both domestic and international food service markets.
But in an increasingly crowded market for vegan cheese, what makes this one any different? Regev tells us, “What makes Pleese unique is that it was made to meet the scrutiny of people who know a thing or two about pizza – New Yorkers. We missed being able to stop at any pizza shop in New York City like we used to before we were vegan. We realized the biggest reason that plant-based cheese wasn’t wildly available was because it wasn’t cost-effective for small restaurants to buy it, and they didn’t meet the high standards of traditional chefs. Pleese was developed with the help of pizzerias all across the City to get our recipe just right before we launched nationally.”
Speaking of the market; how has the pandemic affected the launch of Pleese products and what is the brand’s updated strategy in light of events? “We used the opportunity to reach out to the online vegan community and found restaurants all across the country who were interested in trying our products. Because of the crisis we had more time to focus on our core consumer and really connect with them. Our public launch date was supposed to be Earth Day, but we decided to postponed it to July 4th. We will be available in some restaurants before that, and more widely distributed over the summer. Expect to see us in select retail stores this fall.”