Miyoko Schinner

Thirty years ago, Miyoko Schinner saw an opportunity to get into a business that could help affect social change. Her personal form of activism was to show consumers that healthy, sustainably produced, vegan food “could be absolutely delicious,” she says.

In the 1980s, Miyoko had gone to live in Tokyo. Digestion problems had prompted her to give up dairy. Heavy cream, butter, and cheese were flavors she used to love so she wanted a plant-based way to capture that taste profile. She played with nuts and cashew cream until she got the same sense of satisfaction.

She opened a restaurant in Tokyo, taught vegan cooking classes, and wrote her first vegan cookbook in Japanese, which she translated into English. In 1989, she moved to the Bay Area, selling vegan cakes she baked at home. Eventually she opened Now and Zen, a small bakery-bistro in San Francisco that morphed into a natural food company making meat substitutes, vegan cinnamon rolls, and chocolate chip cookies. She sold the company in 2003, wrote more vegan cookbooks and taught more classes.

Her 2012 cookbook, “Artisan Vegan Cheese,” became a cult classic and people started asking why she wasn’t starting her own cheese business. Why not? she thought. The Petaluma-based Miyoko’s Kitchen launched in 2014.

Revenue has doubled every year, says Miyoko, 61, who has 96 employees and 19 SKUs. Miyoko’s Kitchen is carried nationwide in 6,000 outlets, from natural food stores to Target. Plant-based, fermented butter and mozzarella are her biggest sellers. Flexitarians – not vegetarians or vegans – are the majority of her customers.

“My elevator pitch now is ‘We’re revolutionizing dairy products with plants, making butter and cheese without using any cow’s milk,’” she says. “That’s usually enough to have people go, ‘Oooh, really? Tell me more about it.’”

Highlights

• 1991: Schinner’s first cookbook, “The Now and Zen Epicure,” is published.
• 1994: Schinner opens Now and Zen, a vegan restaurant in San Francisco.
• 2012: “Artisan Vegan Cheese” is published, kicking off the vegan cheese revolution.
• 2014: Miyoko’s Kitchen is founded in Fairfax, CA; 10 cheese wheels enter the market via eCommerce.
• 2015: Fresh Vegan Mozzarella is launched on a small scale
• 2016: Miyoko’s European-style Cultured VeganButter is introduced
• 2017: New 30,000-square-foot facility in Petaluma becomes company headquarters; Bon Appetit magazine rates Miyoko’s Kitchen French-style Winter Truffle one of the six best vegan cheeses in the country
• 2018: Homestyle Plain Vegan Cream Cheese and Vegan Roadhouse Cheese are released