Ontario Woman Grows Vegan Cheese Brand from Market Stall to Retail

Inside a warehouse located on the outskirts of London, Ontario, wheels of cheese age quietly on metal racks, while stainless steel tanks hum nearby. This facility, which at first glance appears to be a traditional dairy operation, is anything but. It is the home of Nuts For Cheese, a vegan cheese brand founded by Margaret Coons. What began as a personal project to create vegan cheese options that were largely unavailable has transformed into a thriving business, now found in major grocery chains across North America, including Costco and Metro.

Recently, Coons received a Manufacturer Award from the London Chamber of Commerce, an accolade that reflects the business’s journey and growing popularity. “It’s pretty surreal,” Coons remarked, reflecting on the success of products with names like Un-Brie-Lievable and Super Blue. “It’s really, really cool to see what we’ve built together.” This recognition is a testament to years of gradual growth, stemming from Coons’s early experiences cooking and her commitment to veganism.

Coons’s journey began at the tender age of 12 when she became vegetarian, later transitioning to veganism at 19. “I did not grow up in a vegetarian household, and so I started cooking at a pretty young age,” she explained. As she honed her culinary skills, she quickly realized the lack of quality vegan and dairy-free products in supermarkets. “There weren’t a ton of great options available in supermarkets,” Coons noted. “When I was first starting out, there was very little available in terms of high-quality, organic, fermented, dairy-free products.”

Instead of waiting for better options, Coons took matters into her own hands. While working at a vegan restaurant in London, she began experimenting with recipes outside of her shifts, renting kitchen space to produce small batches of cheese. “I made the product, I packaged the product, I drove it around to all the retailers,” she recalled. This hands-on approach led her to launch the cheese at a local farmers’ market, where she managed every aspect of production, packaging, and delivery herself.

As demand increased, production shifted from a rented kitchen to a dedicated facility, allowing Nuts For Cheese to operate on a larger scale. What started as a one-person operation has now expanded to a team of 40 employees. “My favourite thing is the people that I work with,” said Alanmah Minarsky, team lead at Nuts For Cheese. “Everybody’s always working together and collaborating.” Minarsky, who has been with the company for over two years, emphasized the ongoing evolution of the work, with new systems and processes being developed regularly.

Shipping products to the United States has introduced additional complexities, especially regarding compliance with border regulations. “We send samples and direct-to-consumer small shipments across the border all the time,” Coons explained, noting the challenges that have arisen. The end of duty-free shipping, which came into effect in August 2023, coincided with the growth of the company’s U.S. business. This change, implemented by the Trump administration, eliminated the de minimis exemption that allowed goods valued under $800 USD to enter the United States without extra fees.

Coons described that period as one of the scariest moments for her business. “It really felt like it could be the end of a lot of businesses like mine,” she stated. To navigate these challenges, she closely managed expenses and restructured parts of the supply chain, successfully transitioning most of their suppliers to Canadian sources. “That was a really significant challenge,” Coons acknowledged.

Despite these obstacles, Coons remains committed to her original mission: creating high-quality food. As Nuts For Cheese continues to grow and adapt, Coons’s determination and innovative spirit remain at the forefront of the company’s success.