Since the 1980s, David Mintz, founder of Tofutti Brands Inc., has called himself the "man who licked ice cream." Now he wants to be the man who created a dairy-free product that rivals ricotta cheese.
Tofutti Brands, based in Cranford, sold close to $18 million worth of dairy-free ice cream products, sour and cream cheese substitutes, blintzes and pizzas last year. The company was born after Mintz, a former restaurateur and caterer in the Catskills and New York City, began experimenting with tofu to create dairy-free substitutes for cheese and ice cream for his kosher customers who followed the Jewish dietary prohibition against eating meat with dairy. Tofutti has since expanded to serve the lactose-free market, as well as kosher customers.
The company is about to launch Better Than Ricotta, a product that is the culmination of Mintz's decade-long quest to find a dairy-free ricotta substitute that can be used in ravioli and other stuffed pastas, and cheesecake. Mintz, a Tenafly resident, has tested it at the Sabbath dinners he serves for friends from the Chabad Center in Tenafly, where he is the president, and gotten rave reviews.
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