Kraft Introduces Its First Ever Plant-Based Mac and Cheese
Kraft NotMac&Cheese aims to bring creamy comfort to those who avoid dairy and animal products.
Photo courtesy of Kraft
Macaroni and cheese — perhaps especially the humble, yet enduringly lovable boxed kind — may seem like a universal comfort food, but some people can’t join the rest of us in enjoying it. Historically, those who adhere to a plant-based diet and/or avoid dairy have had to steer clear of mac and cheese, for a reason that is baked right into the name (i.e., cheese).
That’s about to change. The Kraft Heinz Not Company — the plant-based-food-focused joint venture formed in 2022 between the food giant and food-tech start-up The Not Company — is introducing, for the first time, two plant-based Kraft Mac & Cheese options. It’s the joint venture’s third plant-based twist on a beloved product to debut in a year, following most closely the launch of Kraft NotCheese Slices over the summer and, before that, NotMayo.
“The Kraft Heinz Not Company creates plant-based versions of fan-favorite foods that taste like the real thing, yet don’t require people to drastically change their eating habits,” Lucho Lopez-May, CEO of The Kraft Heinz Not Company, says in a press release.
The new plant-based Kraft NotMac&Cheese (which arguably might more accurately have been called Kraft Mac&NotCheese, but why quibble?) will arrive on shelves nationwide this month and continue to roll out through early 2024. The product will be available in two flavors — Original and White Cheddar — and promises to offer plant-based-food-embracing macaroni and cheese fans across the United States “the creamy and comforting Kraft Mac & Cheese experience they’ve loved for over 85 years, without the dairy.”
According to Kraft, the products are being launched in response to consumer demand, frequently voiced on social media, for a plant-based version of Kraft Mac & Cheese, in its trademark blue box.
As demand for plant-based alternatives to favorite foods has grown, supply of tasty mac and cheese options has failed to keep up, the brand says, noting that fewer than 30 percent of people who buy plant-based macaroni and cheese products end up buying them again because they find the taste and texture lacking.
And Kraft NotMac&Cheese is not the only thing plant-based eaters can anticipate. Kraft Heinz says it plans to expand its plant-based offerings across more categories and brands, and introduce them internationally as well, in the coming year.
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