Vegan Cheese – Heidi Ho

Heidi Lovig, a Cordon Bleu trained vegan chef, pitches Heidi Ho – her line of Vegan Cheese – in Shark Tank episode 610. Lovig first got the idea for creating her product when she consulted at a Portland, OR area restaurant on their vegan offerings. She found existing vegan cheese concoctions full of oil and starches and lacking good flavor. Like any entrepreneur, she started a business to remedy the situation.

The resulting line of products is Heidi Ho. The flavors include: Chia Cheeze Sauce, Spicy Chia Cheeze, Feta Crumbles, Smoked Gouda, and Monterrey Jack. They’re all soy, gluten, dairy, and corn free. How do you make cheese without milk you ask? Take a look at the ingredients for the Chia Cheeze Sauce:

Ingredients: Filtered Water, *Locally Grown Potatoes, *Locally Grown Carrots, *Locally Grown Onions, *Chia Seeds, Cashews, Garlic, *Locally Sourced Lemon Juice, *Locally Grown Red Peppers, Dijon (white vinegar, mustard seed, sea salt, nutmeg), *Raw Cold Pressed Safflower Oil, *Agave, *Spices, Sea Salt, Naturally Sourced Citric Acid (*indicates organics)

That doesn’t look like the cheese most folks are used to eating, but people apparently love the stuff. Heidi Ho Vegan Cheese is selling in hundreds of Whole Foods and other local markets and the reviews are in; Heidi Ho is a hit!

My Take on Vegan Cheese

Vegan cheese isn’t something I’d seek out for myself, but three of the seven people in our family would devour this stuff! I have two vegetarian daughters and one lactose intolerant daughter who are always looking for yummy snacks they can share. Heidi Ho would fit the bill. My oldest veggie daughter is studying nutritional microbiology in college and, even though she’s never tasted it, she gave Heidi Ho’s ingredients two solid thumbs up.

With the holidays coming and the kids headed home to visit (AND EAT), I’ll probably get some Heidi Ho for the girls’ snacks. I’ll try it too; I usually end up liking what they concoct. With more and more consumers becoming educated about what they’re eating, products like Heidi Ho will sell well. I think Heidi Lovig’s vegan cheese is a winner!

Are Sharks Cheesy?

The Sharks want sales and Heidi’s made great inroads getting on store shelves. If she has good sales numbers, we could see a few offers. I don’t think Mark will go for this; the same for Robert. Daymond, Lori, Barbara, and Mr. Wonderful all have food products in their Shark portfolios and if the sales are good for Heidi Ho, any one of them could make an offer.

I’m not sure if the Sharks will fight over vegan cheese, but there’s the possibility Ms. Lovig could leave with a deal. The thing that makes me think she doesn’t get a deal is her web presence. A few days after the ABC press release announcing this episode, Heidi Ho still had broken links on the front page of her website. I emailed her to let her know and she replied she had “a lot to do” to get it ready.

Sprucing up a website with only two weeks to air is not the sign of a business that gets a deal, so for that reason, I think she leaves without one. That said, I hope she gets her website tuned up for show night, because I think there will be a lot of interested customers looking to get their hands on some vegan cheese for the holidays!