The UK’s leading speciality cheese company has already won various accolades, including a PETA honor for best vegan cheese and this year’s Gold award at the FreeFrom Food Awards.

Dairy Giant Applewood®, which has already won multiple awards for its Applewood® Vegan block cheese, has been named a finalist for its Vegan Slices at The Grocer New Product Awards 2020 in the Dairy-Free Category.

The Grocer New Product Awards event rewards outstanding innovation in the UK FMCG sector in both non-food and food categories.

All winners will be announced online on Wednesday, 18th November at 3pm.

Applewood® Vegan

The vegan cheese alternative, which was created by dairy giant Norseland in collaboration with Heather Mill’s vegan company VBites, is coconut based, has Applewood®’s unique smoked flavouring, is free from dairy, lactose, soya, gluten and palm oil while being fortified with vitamin B12 and calcium.

Applewood® Vegan, which was launched last September, has been formulated for the UK’s growing number of vegans, vegetarians, and flexitarians as well as those with intolerances and allergies.

It proved to be so popular that 40% of the first major supermarkets that stocked it sold out on the first day of its launch.

Demand for the product is still ‘showing no signs of slowing down either as sales of Applewood Vegan have increased by 16 percent month on month since July 2020’.

In addition, research from Alertr.co.uk showed that ‘since April, online searches for Applewood Vegan have increased by 150 percent making it the second most searched for vegan product in the UK’.

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‘Over the moon‘

Lisa Harrison, Senior Brand Manager for Applewood® Vegan, said: “The Grocer New Product Awards are highly respected in the industry and we are over the moon to be a finalist in the Dairy-Free Category in these awards.

“This recognition for Applewood® Vegan Slices is the icing on the cake for a very successful year for Applewood® Vegan, which has proved very popular with vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians, who are looking for tasty and healthier alternatives to dairy products.”

‘Thrilled to be recognised‘

Harrison added: “Convenience has proved vital for consumers in recent months as more of the population works from home and have the majority of their meals at home. Applewood® Vegan Slices offers exactly that, particularly with people looking for lunch-time sandwiches and toastie options.

“Applewood® Vegan has the magic formula for a plant-based cheese that is tasty and melts well like its dairy cheese counterparts, and we are thrilled that this is being recognised in such prestigious awards.”

Global launch

The brand has also just released its latest innovation, Applewood® Vegan Grated, after announcing that it was going global following a successful launch in the UK last year.

Applewood® Vegan will be launching in four major food retailers in Canada as part of Norseland’s first international order.

The vegan cheese will be stocked at major retailers including Loblaws, which has 2,400 stores across the country. Other stores include Denningers Foods of the World, Pusateri’s Fine, and Longos, a 36-store food retailer in Toronto.

• Read: Award winning cheese giant to launch New Grated vegan option in the UK

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