Independent start-up Cale and Daughters (C&D) is extending its range on the market with the debut of a dairy-free cream range through Woolworths.
The range features three variants including Made With Plants Dairy-Free Thickened Cream, Made With Plants Dairy-Free Sour Cream and Made With Plants Triple-Cheese Vegan Lasagne. The ‘cream’ products can be used for dolloping, baking and mixing with a variety of dishes, while the lasagne product is an oven-ready meal with tomato and plant-based beef ragout.
With the mission of focusing on creating tasty vegan products and offering alternatives to meat and dairy, C&D teamed up with the University of Queensland for 18 months to research using fava beans as the replacement ingredient for dairy in the dairy-free cream range.
“Fava beans are an ideal ingredient to use in plant-based foods because they have a subtle flavour profile and are naturally high in protein,” said Drouin. “We’re working with Australian farmers to source this raw ingredient, and have partnered with a manufacturer in Queensland to make our Dairy-Free Cream range locally.”
An activist in the plant-based community for more than 10 years, Cale Drouin – co-founder of C&D – had to compare the dairy-free range with traditional dairy products to make sure the product felt and tasted the same.
“I’ve been a committed vegan for over 10 years, but my personal goal was to help develop a plant-based cream that could stand up against animal-based dairy products,” Drouin added. “To get the most convincing result, I had to bear in mind the taste, mouthfeel, and cooking attributes of traditional dairy.”
