Daiya Vegan Cheese Shreds Returning to Original Recipe
When it comes to the world of vegan cheese, Daiya tends to dominate. The company’s products are a fridge staple for lots of dairy-free eaters, and on restaurant menus nationwide (including chains, like Mellow Mushroom).
In keeping with a commitment to dairy-free deliciousness, Daiya recently introduced new recipes for its block and shreds products. The blocks have reportedly received lots of positive buzz, but the shreds haven’t been as enthusiastically received. So, the company is reverting back to the original, award-winning recipe that’s won over so many cheese fiends.
According to a Daiya spokesperson, ” … although we worked tirelessly to improve both the taste and texture of the product, the reception to the new Shred products wasn’t warm, so we made a company decision to cease producing the new Shreds formulation and return to our original award winning formula. Since the decision was made, the original formulation is back in production and already flowing through to retailer shelves.”
If the product has an “award winning original product” sticker on it, you’re dealing with the back-to-normal shreds.
In addition to shreds and blocks, the company makes a laundry list of other products, including Cheezy Mac, Cheezecake, a Greek Yogurt Alternative, and an assortment of pizzas.
The shreds recipe change was hotly debated in the vegan world, with folks coming down on both sides of the aisle. Considering the popularity of the original product, however, lots of people will likely be thrilled to see their favorite cheese has returned to its roots.
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Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 Hannah Sentenac
Does that mean with palm oil? Anyway, Daiya’s high fat, expensive, and nutritionally vapid.
I don’t think anyone is using Daiya to try to fill nutritional gaps you shmuck. As far as expensive, well, in contrast to what? There are few cheaper alternatives, and they’re garbage. There are certainly some better tasting products, but they all start at least 20% more expensive than Daiya. There are some great home made vegan cheese recipes, however, they’re time consuming, usually produce small batches with fairly large amounts of ingredients, and often require some pretty expensive niche ingredients. And don’t point me to the cheeses in that awful plant based pizza book you promoted. That shit was more like vegetable paste flatbread, not pizza.
Yes Bob, this. Daiya has been amazing in my journey of eliminating cheese. I’m so thankful for it!
Bob, your point could just as easily have been made without being a rude smart ass.
Hahaha… LOL @ Schmuck
Thank you! I’ve never had it, now I know.
While we totally respect your opinion, I think it’s important to point out that products like these help people to move away from eating animal products. Our goal with this site is to highlight those efforts, and we’re so thankful that companies like Daiya are continually expanding the options vegans have available. In a world that’s overwhelmingly non-vegan, we want to cheerlead every effort to make plant-based eating easier!
Please find something different to use than palm oil. I love your products. http://us.daiyafoods.com/palm-oil Palm Oil in the Daiya Wedges & Slices
There are many conversations taking place about palm oil and the issues with its production. Some of our customers have expressed concerns or asked questions about the use of palm oil in our products so we wanted to provide a little bit more background as to why we use palm oil and our commitment to sourcing sustainable and organic palm oil.
The decimation of rainforests for palm oil plantations is for biofuels, not food. Sustainable and organic are indeed to be preferred, but this is a misplaced concern.
have you heard that dairy cheeses are carcinogenic??? I hear cancer treatments are costly #ChinaStudy
I can’t figure out why some individuals are so opinionated to the point of just plain nasty. We’re talking about cheese (vegan) afterall and who is doing what with their product. Please dial it back a bit and let’s support those who are actually doing this work. Afterall, with out them, there would be no dairy alternatives!
Agreed! So annoying when people dump all over companies for their efforts
Thank you all for your input, especially David. While I’m a more purist plant-based eater, I try the packaged vegan foods from time to time. My tastebuds never appreciated the Daiya cheeses, so I stay away. I have tried their newest cheesecake products and they’re pretty tasty, but again, wouldn’t do this on a regular basis. This is a great article and a big shout out to my new homey, Hannah….hopefully, you won’t think this is creepy!
I am not a Daiya fan either. It works for many, just not this gal. I do hope it is without Palm oil though. So many folks using it, it would mean more Rainforest destroyed. If so many critters get displaced, makes it counter to a vegan lifestyle. But hey, if its Palm oil free, you folks enjoy!
I wish it didn’t have titanium dioxide. I’d rather have imperfect color and leave out this questionable ingredient.
Questionable? Titanium dioxide is a naturally occurring ingredient and can be found in almost anything, be it food or cosmetics. Completely harmless.
I didn’t mind the new or old shreds (moz style) , but I don’t care for the new style of the cheddar wedge….I use it for cheese sauces and the old style melted like velveta, the new style doesn’t melt as well and us not creamy when melted but its better cold on crackers.
I’ve never seen palm oil in their shreds before.
No palm oil in the shreds! 🙂 This is Daiya’s statement about palm oil: There are many conversations taking place about palm oil and the issues with its production. Some of our customers have expressed concerns or asked questions about the use of palm oil in our products so we wanted to provide a little bit more background as to why we use palm oil and our commitment to sourcing sustainable and organic palm oil.
All of the palm oil we source is from Brazil, which is not a natural habitat for orangutans. Our supplier, which is certified by EcoSocial and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), works with several independent farmers to replace slash and burn practices with a sustainable organic system. The company helps preserve forests surrounding the plantation by only replanting oil palms in areas that had been previously deforested.
http://us.daiyafoods.com/palm-oil
Any options that assist folks to convert to a vegan diet have a positive impact. Let consumers make their own informed decisions. Daiya is not my first choice – but Daiya played a huge role in helping me convert to a plant based diet.
Daiya has a positive contribution/place in the refrig of many. Think about the broad picture and attempt to be less self-focused. Just sayin’
Well said!
I liked the new shreds as the ingredients seemed a lot less and it tasted better too. Pretty bummed about this. 🙁
I agree with you completely 🙁
Thank you! I knew the cheese shreds tasted differently. I couldn’t make my favorite grilled cheese or quesadillas with that new recipe. So thank you for going back to the original. I can enjoy my Daiya again!!
The new shred formula was delicious and the texture was bang on. Disappointed to see that they are reverting back to the old recipe.
Yay! I recently wrote them a msg mentioning this exactly! The new recipe should be another product altogether. I’ve been buying Daiya for nearly 4-5 years and trust me I felt like I was going insane just thinking I’d never have my Daiya quesadillas with Tuno! Gah! I’m so happy!
My husband is dairy-free because of being sick a few years ago. Took a while for him to get use to non-dairy cheese, and since he is also a vegetarian cheese was a big staple in his menu. When I first bought the new formula he loved it, it melted faster and tasted better when I made cheeze sauce for Mac n cheese (his favorite). I had gone to every store and organic stores to try to find the new formula. I finally now looked it up and see they aren’t producing it anymore. I really don’t understand how people like the old formula, but my husband is pretty annoyed that he was teased by the better tasting formula to now have to go back to the below par version. Maybe you guys can produce a bunch and just send them to us weekly ?
The “classic” Daiya shreds are better for anything that requires melting. However, the new ones (which are now discontinued) were much, much better for everything else. The taste and texture was a lot better to eat “as is”. I’m happy to learn that they’re keeping this new recipe for their blocks though, so I guess both camps should be happy!
I immediately felt the difference in texture and then when we cooked with it, it melted just like real cheese. He loved it! His major complaint of the older version that is still on the market now is that it would never melt completely. I guess he’ll just end up having real cheese and having a lactaid from now on.
I tried Daiya for the first time sometime in 2015 and thought it was the worst vegan cheese ever. However, I literally just devoured a quesadilla made with it and found it so awesome, I googled “has daiya improved its recipe” and landed here. BIG improvement and wise choice to revert to the old recipe if that’s what explains the difference in taste. I’ll now keep your product in my refrigerator.
thank God. I took time to personally express disappointment to Daiya about their ‘new & improved’ product and stopped buying it for months. why mess with a good thing?
people get passionate about this topic because there are few vegan cheese options out there, so when you kill a great product that you used to buy weekly, you are depriving people of something they use in many of their meals (and ruining lives!! lol). Daiya used its lucid vegan rationale and listened to feedback – Amen
Mark,
Ignore Bob. The majority is correct. It’s not a product for staying lean. It’s a luxury product. Lots of times I make a pizza and find that I put very little Daiya on it because it’s so full of toppings.
Have fun!
I love Daiya on my chicken dishes, since I cannot have dairy and I love cheese. Glad they’re going back to the original.
Thank goodness they are going back to the original. I use it all the time, and the “Cutting Board” cheese tasted like plastic. I was really worried because I buy so much of it and I had not been able to find a different brand that was as good.