Vegan version of the goat cheese classic wins top award
The Vegan Society Vegan Cheese Awards is in its fifth year and attracted more than 80 entries across 12 categories.
It’s a tall order to make something delicious without using what has historically been the main ingredient.
That’s what the Vegan Society Vegan Cheese Awards celebrates, and New Zealand has a new supreme winner for 2025: a vegan version of the goat cheese classic, a chèvre log rolled in pepper.
The winning nut-based cheese, made by High Culture from Waiheke Island, outperformed more than 80 other entries across 12 different categories to claim the ultimate crown for New Zealand's vegan cheeses. The competition is in its fifth year.
Judges taste entrants in the 2025 Vegan Society Vegan Cheese Awards.
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“It is rolled in pepper. It has a nice contrast of white cheese with a greenish brown coating,” Franco Sessa, a competition judge, told RNZ’s Checkpoint. He is a turophile, the word for cheese expert, with 24 years of experience in the dairy cheese industry.
“It really impressed the judges because it was a very well-crafted cheese.”
RNZ's Checkpoint presenter Lisa Owen taste-tested the High Culture cheese live on air.
“I can say that this one does taste like goat cheese. It is slightly grainier, I reckon, than what a normal goat cheese would be.”
Other winners include Nudairy, which took out the feta award. Judges pointed to its excellent colour and smooth texture that was both firm and creamy.
One Love Planet’s Bohemian Blue won the brie, camembert and blue style category. Judges praised the cheese for its floral presentation, tangy flavour and smooth consistency.
The winner of the mozzarella category went to Angel Food for its stretchy and gooey creation.
Sessa says he can easily determine dairy from vegan cheese in blind taste testing, but that doesn’t mean vegan cheeses are not delicious.
“You grew up with, and you came from a demographic where dairy cheeses have been used for hundreds and hundreds of years.
“Something with a vegan background will definitely be an acquired taste, so obviously you will realise straight away that what you are eating is different from the smell but also from the texture.
“As you say, it is grainy rather than the perfect smoothness that you achieve when you are working with animal fats.”
Vegan cheese winners and runners-up 2025
Supreme Winner
High Culture Cheese Bûche au Poivre
Feta
Winner Nudairy; Feta Block
Runner up Epic Foods: Feta Rosemary & Garlic
Cheese Soft
Winner High Culture Bûche au Poivre
Runner up Savour: Cumin
Flavoured Cheese Board Cheese
Winner High Culture: Bûche a la Truffe
Runner up Sonntag: Cumin
Cheese Spread
Winner Savour: Mint
Runner up One Love Planet: Chilli Creama
Brie, Camembert and Blue Style
Winner One Love Planet: Bohemian Blue
Runner up Let Them Eat Vegan: Plant-based Creamy Camembert Wedge
Innovation Category
Winner Nudairy: Feta Block
Runner up Let Them Eat Vegan: Smoked Gouda Spread
Mozzarella
Winner Angel Food: Mozzarella
Runner up Zenzo: Mozzarella
Commercial Cheddar and Flavoured
Winner Epic Foods: Cumin Gouda
Runner up Epic Foods: Peri Peri Chilli Cheese
Commercial Cheddar
Winner Nudairy: Cheddar
Runner up Epic: Cheddar Original
Cream Cheese Flavoured
Winner One Love Planet: Chevie Black Pepper & Dill
Cream Cheese Plain
Winner Angel Food: Cream Cheese
Runner up Nudairy: Dairy Free Mascarpone
Artisan Cheese
Winner One Love Planet: Karmasan
Runner up One Love Planet: Smoked Goudi
