Bel Group has partnered with First Dates and Million Pound Menu star Fred Sirieix to prove how close vegan cheese is getting to dairy.
Vegan cheese is one of the most common grievances against the plant-based sector, with a perception of legacy products being sticky, tacky or ‘plasticky’ informing consumers’ hesitation to try newer versions too.
Those days may be gone, though, as a new survey of 2,000 British adults aims to prove. It was commissioned by French dairy giant Bel Group – owner of popular cheese brands Babybel, The Laughing Cow, and Boursin – which partnered with TV personality Fred Sirieix to find out if people can tell the difference between dairy cheese and plant-based alternatives.
“Brits claim to eagerly embrace culinary trends and global flavours, but they can be particularly prejudiced when it comes to certain foods, and this is one of the biggest barriers to discovery,” said Sirieix, who is known for shows like Gordon, Gino and Fred’s Road Trip, First Dates and Million Pound Menu.
Less than 10% of Brits can distinguish plant-based from dairy cheese
The survey found that, on average, there are eight foods they refuse to eat (five of which they’ve never tried). Sushi topped the list of things they reject without having tried them, followed by black pudding, kimchi, vegan cheese and anchovies. Tofu and plant-based milk were also part of the top 10.
This is despite 65% of Brits claiming to have adventurous palates, and 74% being open to trying new foods. In fact, three in five Brits dislike food they’ve never tasted.
The poll aimed to uncover how biases inform food choices. For example, two-thirds of survey respondents were confident that they could tell the difference between cheese and a non-dairy alternative.
That prompted Sirieix to team up with Bel Group’s Boursin brand to conduct blind taste tests of its plant-based cheese at British food festivals throughout the summer. The results? Less than 10% of people could tell Boursin’s non-dairy cheese from its conventional version.
“Many ingredients, including plant-based alternatives to cheese, have huge negative preconceptions,” noted Sirieix. “But despite many claiming they’d be able to differentiate plant-based from dairy, even the most discerning foodies were fooled by this plant-based alternative to cheese when we let taste do the talking.”
The research highlights how biases hold people back from trying new foods that they might end up liking. “Food is meant to be an adventure. Often, the things you’re sure you won’t like end up surprising you the most,” said Sirieix.
“People are very clearly confident in their ability to tell dairy from plant-based alternatives, but as we saw from experience, this was not actually the case,” he added. “It just goes to show: there’s a whole world of flavours out there waiting to be explored if you’re brave enough.
“Even ingredients you might dismiss because of previous experiences, judgements, or assumptions can still surprise you if prepared in the right way. So, embrace the challenge and let the taste do the talking.”
Bel Group goes big on taste amid plant-based reset
The taste tests revealed that 53% of people had a change of heart about something they thought they wouldn’t enjoy, after having a taste. The best way to be convinced to try new foods is by either participating in flavour-forward blind taste tests, or by learning more about their health benefits, an insight plant-based food makers would do well to adopt.
The partnership with Siriex is part of a “playful” marketing strategy to reinvent Boursin as a “versatile, year-round” source of indulgence. In addition, it aims to tap into the growing trend of at-home supper clubs, as well as casual dinner parties.
It comes as sales of vegan cheese plateau in the UK. In the year to January 2025, sales of these products trimmed by 0.4%, while volumes were down by 2.6%. They make up just 2.5% of the country’s cheese market, and as of the start of this year, branded plant-based cheeses cost 26% more than conventional branded cheese.
Bel Group itself has felt the squeeze. It is withdrawing its Nurishh brand of dairy-free cheese by the end of the year, which will lead to the closure of its Saint-Nazaire factory and impact around 30 jobs. The decision was driven by a failure to attract new consumers and become profitable.
Nurishh only represents 1% of the retail market for vegan cheese, compared to the 22% share of its biggest competitor, Violife. “By arriving second in the market, we have not succeeded in differentiating ourselves enough to secure our clients’ listing and attract new consumers,” Bel Group told Just Food.
Instead, the company is focusing on its core brands, each of which has non-dairy offerings, as part of its goal to generate 50% of sales from plant-based alternatives and fruit-derived offerings by 2030.
It has linked up with agrifood producer Avril, probiotic manufacturer Lallemand, and foodservice consultant Protial on a three-year project to develop better-tasting, more nutritious vegan cheese via fermentation and ageing techniques. The effort is backed by a €9M investment, in part by the French government.
“Our research focuses on alternative ingredients, including plant-based proteins from crops like peas, chickpeas, and fava beans and some others, as well as fermentation-derived proteins, which offer nutritional quality comparable to dairy,” Bel told Green Queen after the announcement.
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