Amsterdam plant-based cheese company set for UK expansion after €2m investment

By Michelle Perrett

- Last updated on GMT

What plant-based cheese is set to launch in UK?

Related tags Supply chain

Willicroft, the Amsterdam based plant-based cheese company, is set for expansion into the UK after securing a €2m (£1.69m) in investment led by Rockstart and PINC.

The €2m pre seed round was led by PINC, Paulig’s venture arm alongside Rockstart, Döhler and Feast Ventures as co-investors. 

Willicroft has said that consumers have become increasingly aware of food's environmental footprint but cheese is often overlooked but is  the 3rd largest emitting product. 

Founded as a dairy farm in the UK in 1957,  Willicroft was relaunched as a plant-based cheese company in Amsterdam in 2018. 

Holistic solutions

“Our new bean based range produces up to 5 times less CO2 than the dairy alternatives it's replacing. We need holistic solutions to tackle major changes in our food system - having recently secured B Corp status, we believe we’re on track to address these problems at their root cause,”​ said Brad Vanstone, co-founder and chief executive of Willicroft. 

With this new raise locked in we'll be bringing our delicious, beautifully branded range of PBC's to 3 new markets: the UK, Germany and the Nordics, bringing in senior hires and continuing on our quest to become the world's first net positive plant-based cheese company. Our new investor group can help open up a number of new markets whilst also fast-tracking our products' continued evolution.” 

Sustainable 

Marika King, head of PINC, the venture arm of Paulig, said: “Willicroft is by far the tastiest plant-based cheese range we have come across. It has a more nutritious and sustainable ingredient list than most alternatives available today and a high-powered team with traction in Europe, so we could not be more excited to support this venture.​” 

Mark Durno, managing partner AgriFood, Rockstart ​said: “They have spent the last years understanding their consumers and their footprint, and the next phase will be to put those learnings to scale.”​ Willicroft is the first plant-based cheese company to become BCorp in Europe. 

Related topics Dairy Plant-Based

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