5 minutes with I AM NUT OK
We love to spotlight our fantastic suppliers so we sat down with I AM NUT OK as part of our Veganuary campaign to find out more about their Vegan Cheese passion and offering.
A brief history of your company, where and when it started, company values: I AM NUT OK was born in 2017. The company was founded by Angela Chou and Nivi Jasa, a couple living in London. Angela was already vegan when they met, and hailing from Los Angeles, she knew exactly how good vegan food could be. Instantly hooked by the positive impact on health, the environment and animal welfare that this lifestyle offered, Nivi agreed to go vegan too. However, being Italian, he knew he would really struggle without cheese. At that time, the vegan cheese available on the market was pretty dire. So, Angela started making some for Nivi in their home kitchen. They both immediately realised that it was something special, so they started selling it at a local farmers market. Inspired by the feedback and the customers who returned week after week for their cheeses, they gradually scaled the company up. Both Angela and Nivi come from design backgrounds. So, the products have always looked as ravishing as they taste. As a result, within a year I AM NUT OK had bagged a listing with Fortnum & Mason (who assumed this was a long-established brand), and that was all before they’d even had a chance to launch their own online shop. It has been onwards and upwards ever since, but we still use the same recipes that Angela developed in her kitchen all those years ago.
Could you tell us a bit about the process behind making vegan cheese? I AM NUT OK makes a range of fresh cheeses, aged cheeses, and cultured butters – all vegan of course! We create our products by fermenting cashew nuts with dairy-free cheese cultures. In this culturing process, the plant proteins are transformed into cheesy goodness full of good lactic bacteria, which gives it that authentic tang. Our aged cheeses are blended with high quality herbs and spices and matured in our cellars to develop deep and complex flavours. This artisanal process is a labour of love, and it results in the most incredible tasting plant-based cheeses.
Tell us a little bit about what makes your products different/special and why retailers should sell your alternative cheeses? Many of the vegan cheeses on the market are made from oils, starches and unusual ingredients with long names that seem to need a chemistry degree to decipher. The recipes for I AM NUT OK’s cheeses were developed in a home kitchen, so the ingredients are clean and understandable, with either cashew nuts or soya milk making up the lion’s share. We focus on big flavours rather than simply mimicking conventional cheeses, which is why so many dairy lovers have fallen head over heels for our cheeses too. They contain no cholesterol, making them a healthier choice. Around 65% of the world’s population experiences some form of lactose intolerance, with the highest numbers among people of colour, which makes plant-based cheeses a far more inclusive option. We conducted a Life Cycle Assessment Report on one of our cashew-based cheeses, which concluded that the greenhouse gas emissions were 72% lower than that of a dairy-based equivalent. So, switching from dairy to vegan is a great decision for the environmentally conscious. And finally, it goes without saying that our cheeses are a compassionate choice when it comes to animal welfare.
What is your bestselling, most-loved product? During the summer months we see a huge surge in sales of Fetamorphosis as attention turns towards salads and mezze in the sunshine. Bluffalo Notzarella is fast-becoming the go-to choice for pizza connoisseurs throughout the UK, particularly since the CEO of Ooni described it as “one of the best cheese alternatives we’ve ever found.” But our top three, year in and year out, remain the luxurious truffle-infused Nerominded, the super-punchy MinerThreat, and herby, tangy and aptly named G.O.A.T.. This trio creates the cheeseboard of dreams. We also make limited-edition seasonal flavours, which always prove extremely popular with our die-hard fans, and we love getting creative with the photoshoots and branding.
Are there any particular moments that make you especially proud? Have you won any awards, and what are these? We have curated a vegan cheese hamper for Selfridge’s every Christmas for the last four years, but it still gives us goosebumps every time. Working with distributors like Curd & Cure means that we sometimes stumble across our cheeses in unexpected places, and that gives us a huge buzz. Walking into a pizzeria and seeing our cheese bubbling on a freshly baked pizza fills us with pride. We were also immensely proud to reach the final of Aldi’s Next Big Thing. The outpouring of support we received after the show aired on Channel 4 was incredible, and that’s what we do this for. Our cheeses have won countless awards, but all the awards in the world pale into insignificance compared to a single heartfelt review from a customer. You’ll regularly find us weeping over joyful emails that were typed with one hand still clasping a cheese knife.
Do you have any must-do tips for how to eat your cheeses, any specific pairings that you would recommend? Everybody has very different tastes and rules are meant to be broken, so we always recommend experimenting. But we love to make creamy pasta sauces with G.O.A.T., spread Rigotta across a hot bagel, dice Fetamorphosis into a watermelon salad and pack MinerThreat and pickle sandwiches into a backpack before going on a hike.
What tips would you give to retailers/delis/foodservice providers that stock your products, how it should be kept, presented or displayed? The people who sell our cheeses know their customers better than anyone, so we would never tell them what to do. However, we do always get a kick out of seeing a good selection of our products displayed alongside their dairy-based counterparts offering a strong and sustainable alternative.
What’s your favourite product and why? Oh, Grate!. It’s the O.G. of umami. It’s so versatile, you can sprinkle it on anything. Nivi can often be found eating it straight out of the bag.
Is there anyone who particularly inspires you/someone that you perhaps look up to in the industry? Miyoko Schinner is a pioneer and a constant source of inspiration. The world of vegan cheese wouldn’t be what it is without her. If you haven’t seen You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment on Netflix, then we urge you to give it a watch.
