Babybel Goes Big on Plant-Based Cheese

A new plant-based snack has entered the chat. Vegan Babybel ‘cheese’ will be arriving in stores across the U.S. in March. Parent company Bel Brands has also announced plans to release dairy-free additions to its Laughing Cow and Nurishh product lines by the end of 2023.

Baybel believes its expertise in dairy cheese-making will give it an edge in the dairy-free category.

“To get plant-based cheese right, you need to know what makes cheese cheese. And that’s exactly what you’ve trusted us to do for over 150 years,” says the company’s chief marketing officer, Shannon Maher.

Babybel Plant-Based is a semi-soft cheese, “developed to taste like mozzarella,” per a company statement, sold in packs of single-serving, bite-sized rounds. Each round is wrapped in the company’s signature wax, but instead of the red used for dairy Babybels, the vegan Babybel wax is a vibrant green.

So what’s inside these Organic and Non-GMO Project-verified cheese snacks? Just water, food starch, coconut oil, calcium citrate, and a bit of salt, natural flavoring, critic acid, beta-carotene (color) and cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12). Babybel Plant-Based is free of soy, nuts, and gluten.

It’s not the company’s first go at making diary-free cheeses. Bel Brands lunched a stand-alone vegan range, Nurishh, in 2020. Under that label, they’re currently producing plant-based cheese slices, shreds, and cubes as well as cream cheeses. In 2021, the company brought out its first vegan version of an existing brand, launching dairy-free Boursin spreadable cheese. Next up after Babybel Plant-Based will be Laughing Cow Plant-Based, expected next year.

RELATED: Cultured Kindness Is Pushing the Boundaries of Vegan Cheese

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