CANADA – Nuts For Cheese, Canada’s leading manufacturer of artisan, organic dairy-free cheese, has secured CAD 5.35 million (US$ 4.12 million) from a funding round led by Forage Capital Partners.

 Sol Cuisine founder Dror Balshine and Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods co-founder, Mike Fata also participated in the funding round.

According to Nuts For Cheese, the funding will support equipment and facility enhancements and will also go towards key hires, innovation, and marketing initiatives.

Nuts For Cheese, founded in 2015, uses cultures to make its fermented cashew-based cheeses and butter, produced in a certified organic facility and sold in Canada and the US.

The company sells a range of innovative and versatile cheeses that can be sliced, shredded, spread, or melted.

According to the company, its products are handcrafted with traditional aging techniques and are made from organic cashews, coconut oil, and sunflower oil.

Margaret Coons, CEO, and founder of Nuts For Cheese said this investment has come at a perfect time for the company to be able to keep pace with its growth

Nuts For Cheese says that it will also be implementing a board of directors, which will be led by Fata as chairman.

The funding follows the company’s announcement in April of shoring up the expansion of its product lines across US natural channels and also plans to release its first non-dairy cream cheese.

During the same month, the 100% dairy-free vegan cheese company reported it had seen 50% year-over-year sales growth as it increased distribution across the US.

Nuts For Cheese is currently sold in over 45 states at a growing number of retailers including Whole Foods, National Co-op Grocers, Natural Grocers Vitamin Cottage, and thousands of independent health food stores.

Nut For Cheese has also secured deals with some of the largest US national distributors that facilitate the quick expansion and distribution across the country, Founder & CEO Margaret Coons said.

The strides Nuts For Cheese is making to bolster the business are on the trail of Fortune Business Insights data that projects the U.S. cheese market to grow from US$40.73 billion in 2022 to US$55.95 billion by 2029 at a CAGR of 4.64% in the forecast period, 2022-2029.

The growth of the market in the United States is attributed to the increased demand for ready-to-eat food products such as sandwiches, snacks, and other similar food products.

 In addition, the country has seen heavy investment in the cheese market, particularly in the upgrading and expansion of production facilities to take advantage of the abundance of raw materials.

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