Philadelphia® plant-based cream cheese. (Credit: Kraft Heinz)
CHICAGO - Kraft Heinz is catering to vegans with the launch of the Philadelphia® plant-based cream cheese.
The company said the spread " features a carefully crafted recipe with simple, high-quality ingredients, creamy spreadable texture and delicious taste."
The spread is free of dairy, lactose and gluten. It’s available in select stores in the southeastern U.S. with additional favors planned for a national rollout in the summer of 2023. Ingredients include water, coconut oil, modified potato starch, faba bean protein, contains less than 2% of salt, xanthan gum, carob bean gum, guar gum, lactic acid, sorbic acid as a preservative, citric acid, natural flavor.
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"The influx of flexitarian consumers has driven growth within the plant-based market, which is now more than 20x the size of the vegan population," Robert Scott, President of Research & Development at The Kraft Heinz Company, said in a news release.
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Companies offering more vegan options
More and more companies are hopping on the plant-based bandwagon.
"As the brand that has set the cream cheese standard for 150 years, we realized the current options weren’t meeting consumer expectations and there was no trusted leader," he continued.
Kraft Heinz said the recipe was two years in the making and marked the first time a mainstream cream cheese brand entered the plant-based market.
According to FOX News, over half (52%) of Americans are currently trying to incorporate more plant-based meals into their daily lives. But that’s not all. Americans are open to the idea of eating more plant-based meals. In fact, 18% have tried a vegetarian diet and 5% have tried a vegan diet.
This story was reported from Los Angeles.