Pea & Bean Cheesemaker Stockeld Dreamery Gears Up For Plant-Based Feta Launch After Rebrand

Swedish food tech Stockeld Dreamery has rebranded from Noquo Foods, ahead of its upcoming plant-based feta cheese launch this Spring, initially through foodservice channels in Stockholm. According to the startup, the new name is a better representation of its “values and bold vision to the world” and its mission to “imagining everything that a creamery can and should be.” 

Stockeld Dreamery, formerly Noquo Foods, says the name change comes after the startup has “come to much better understand ourselves,” as it continues to prepare for its commercial launch. The Swedish food tech’s first product will be a 100% plant-based feta cheese made using fermented pea protein and fava beans, and rivals the nutritional profile of conventional feta – but without its associated ethical and environmental impact. 

It’s about imagining everything that a creamery can and should be, and then to actually do it.

Sorosh Takavoli, Co-Founder & CEO, Stockeld Dreamery

“Our Dreamery is where doers dare to dream, but even more so — where dreamers dare to do. It’s about imagining everything that a creamery can and should be, and then to actually do it,”  writes Stockeld Dreamery co-founder and CEO Sorosh Takavoli, in a post explaining the rebrand. 

The word Stockeld itself means “campfire” in old Swedish. “The campfire represents how we consider food: simple, inclusive, delicious and full of joy,” said Takavoli, who co-founded the startup with Anja Leissner in 2019.

Stockeld Dreamery’s vegan-friendly cheese will first debut in Stockholm, where it will roll out via foodservice businesses and restaurant partners. Speaking to The Spoon, Takavoli revealed that the company is now in the midst of growing its team from six to 20 in the coming months and has plans to move into a larger facility to scale up production. 

Earlier this year in January, the startup said it had “grinded through” hundreds of iterations of its prototype product in order to “get our first product right”. Throughout its R&D phase, Stockeld Dreamery says that its vegan feta has been tested with chefs and cheese fans to gather feedback and continuously improve its taste, flavour, mouthfeel and texture and make its analogue the most “compelling” on the market.  

The much-anticipated product launch in the next few weeks comes as the plant-based dairy industry experiences major demand growth in the wake of the pandemic, which has accelerated the existing shift consumers were already making away from traditional dairy. 

Vegan cheese, in particular, has been eyed as the segment to watch for 2021, with recent statistics valuing the current market at US$2.7 billion and estimating that it’ll double to US$4.5 billion by as soon as 2025. According to a recent European study, plant-based cheese saw triple-digit growth in sales, increasing 165%, 150% and 140% in the British, German and Dutch consumer markets respectively. 

With these bullish figures, big food players have quickly shifted their focus to take up the opportunity to be made, with the likes of Danone and French cheese giant Bel Group both making moves to expand their plant-based cheese offerings. 

All images courtesy of Stockeld Dreamery.