Aiming to “redefine cheese through oats”, Mö Foods is looking to use the popularity of its ‘award-winning’ oat-based cheese alternatives to drive plant-based food products into the mainstream of consumer consciousness.
The considerable surge in funding obtained from Helsinki-based Nordic Foodtech VC will enable the business to scale up its proprietary production technology and prepare for international expansion.
Founded in 2017 by siblings Annamari Jukkola and Marjaana Vuorio, who grew up on a dairy farm, Mö is aiming to combine “Nordic design thinking with sustainable food innovation” to “reinvent cheese through oats.”
Mö’s vision is the result of how resource-intensive cheese production is on the planet, with the firm looking to find more sustainable and ecologically friendly alternatives to traditional dairy production.
“Our goal at Mö has always been to create foods that reflect how people eat today: good food at a fair price, made responsibly,” said Annamari Jukkola, CEO and co-founder of Mö. “Growing up on a dairy farm gave us a respect for how cheese is made, and also for the value people place on it. We’re bringing that same quality and care to a new process, using oats to make something familiar, but lighter on resources. This funding helps us do that at scale.”
By developing its technology, the brand claims that it can make use of the entire oat, eliminating sidestreams and that using oats as the main ingredient reduces the carbon footprint and minimises land use throughout the production chain.
Mö believes the mammoth funding round it has just obtained from Nordic Foodtech VC is a clear indicator of where the food industry is heading as it approaches the so-called ‘post-vegan era’.
“Mö is taking unique Finnish oats and their healthy properties to a completely new level,” added Mika Kukkurainen, partner at Nordic Foodtech VC.
“Added-value products, with unique technology, are the exact kind of food knowledge that we want to support and scale internationally. Mö is setting the standard for the whole industry on how plant-based products should meet expectations in taste and experience - and how this expertise can be taken to international markets.”
