In the space of just two years, Miyoko Schinner’s nut-based, cultured cheesemaking company, Miyoko’s Kitchen, has exploded in popularity, evolving from a small, online-only operation to a successful business with 40 employees and an international reputation. With a lease signed for a massive new space, expansion into food service, and increased focus on placement in mainstream retailers, Miyoko’s Kitchen is rapidly moving up — and changing the definition of cheese in the process.
Humble Beginnings
Schinner has been vegan for an astonishing three decades — before most people knew what the term even meant. Back in the 1980s, she started experimenting in the kitchen, working to create substitutes for her favorite animal products. Eventually, she launched her own meat alternatives company.
Despite the business’s outward appearance of success, it was a nightmare behind the scenes, recalls Schinner. “It was a constant struggle keeping it going,” she says. Eventually she sold it, and several years later, cheese became her main focus.
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