At this year's Natural Products Expo West, Upton's Naturals introduced two new Ch'eesy Mac products, which are pre-cooked and ready-to-eat in a matter of minutes.
The two varieties are both vegan, made with a base of a nutritional yeast "cheese," and are free from nuts, dairy, oil, trans fat, cholesterol, GMO ingredients and artificial flavors. In addition to the classic Ch'eesy Mac, Upton's Naturals also introduced a Ch'eesy Bacon Mac, which features pieces of crispy seitan as a bacon substitute.
While these vegan mac and cheese products specifically appeal to those following a plant-based diet or taking care to avoid certain ingredients due to sensitivities, the fact that these macaroni meals can be prepared in about a minute will be appealing to all consumers. Other than a small "100% vegan" badge on the front of the packages, the Ch'eesy Mac products resemble classic mac and cheese boxes.
What Makes This Trend Stand Out
- Convenient Vegan Meals
- Opportunity for companies to develop more plant-based meals with quick preparation times.
- Nutritional Yeast-based Products
- Opportunity to create more products made with nutritional yeast as a cheese alternative.
- Vegan Meat Substitutes
- Opportunity to create more plant-based meat alternatives for classic meat dishes.
Sectors Adopting This
- Food Industry
- Companies can develop more plant-based meals and meat alternatives for consumer demand.
- Health & Wellness Industry
- Nutritional yeast-based products offer an opportunity for companies to promote the benefits of plant-based diets.
- Packaged Food Industry
- Companies can create more convenient and quick-to-prepare meals for busy consumers, to meet market demand.
