A lifelong dairy cheese writer tried our cheese. Here's what happened.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a message from a writer who has spent decades covering dairy cheese for a national magazine. Someone who has eaten more good cheese than most people will in a lifetime. He told me that until recently he had no interest in vegan cheese. Honestly, he found it offensive and didn't consider it in the same category at all.

What changed his mind was hearing that the cheesemaking process itself had evolved. That some producers were starting to use real traditional techniques, culturing, aging, the whole thing, applied to plant-based milk. That was interesting enough to him that he decided to write an article about it. So he reached out, and we sent him a box.

He told me when it arrived and he opened it, he was actually excited. We still don't know what he thought of the cheese. The article comes out in three months and honestly we're a little anxious. But just hearing that he was excited to try meant everything.

Getting someone to try in the first place is always the hill you have to climb first.

Fred and I have never thought lecturing people about their food choices is how you change anything. And we have real values. The animals. The planet. Our own health. Those things are why we show up every day. But that's not what gets someone to reach for something again. What does is simpler than that. Does it taste good. That's it.

Because when something tastes good, people buy it again. One person who never thought about eating less dairy finds something they love and keeps buying it. Multiply that by enough people and it actually adds up. Not because we convinced anyone of anything. Because the cheese was good.

We started making cheese in an 8-bottle wine fridge with this exact moment in mind. To make something so good that a writer who spent decades dismissing vegan cheese would open a box and actually want to dig in. That's seven years of work right there.

Kirsten
Co-Founder, Rebel Cheese
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P.S. Our Swiss Fondue Box is still available — but not for long. This is a one-batch run for National Fondue Day coming up on April 11, and once it's gone, it's gone until next year. If you've been thinking about it, this is the week.