Page 22 - Food&Drink Nov-Dec 2020

✷ RISING STAR
“ The Australian market is moving much faster than I originally anticipated, there’s nothing I’ve seen quite like it in my lifetime.”
ABOVE: In a bagel state of mind, Quade and Fil developed the Hemp Seed Cream Cheese while living in New York.
LEFT: The Cheese-Free Cheese Sauce is a nostalgic reinvention made from cauliflower.
“I thought plant-based demand would be
something taking off much sooner over here and then would
filter back to Australia over time, maybe a few years
later. But I didn’t factor in a global event like COVID-19 though, which has really accelerated that trajectory I was predicting. The Australian market is moving much faster than I originally anticipated, it’s really remarkable and there’s nothing I’ve seen quite like it in my lifetime.”
In October, Food and Innovation Australia Limited (FIAL) highlighted the plant- based and alternative proteins space in its Program 2030: Doubling Australian Food and Agribusiness initiative as one of the key areas in the food and agriculture sector, driving economic growth in the country. It is expected to grow from $3 billion to $5 billion in total value added by 2030.
“It’s an amazing time to be a start-up founder in this space and we’re so lucky to be on the right side of the equation when COVID hit,” Fil says. “Even though investment money was drying up in a lot of areas, what we’re making is part of the solution, which is really exciting.”
GOING BIG BUT NOT GOING HOME YET
Grounded will launch its first three cheeses in the US market nationally this November. Its hero product will be its Marinated Hemp Seed Goat’s Cheese, “which is marinated in olive oil, thyme, lemon and garlic, and packed with protein and calcium”.
“It made complete sense
for us to do that with hemp seed, because Americans haven’t tried anything like
it,” says Fil. “They haven’t really seen that style of marinated, Danish feta with a silky texture; it’s more the crumbly, Greek feta over here, so we had to change the name from feta to goat’s cheese.”
The second product “was not one we originally intended” – a Hemp Seed Cream Cheese, made while Quade and Fil were living over in New York, and the third is a Cheese-Free Cheese Sauce, “which is a fresh cauliflower-based sauce, and tastes remarkably similar to the Kraft mac and cheese recipe I ate all the time as a kid. Only our sauce doesn’t have the preservatives, high calorie content or dairy,” Fil says.
With three cheeses soon to hit shelves, the Grounded team have another 32 types of cheese up their sleeves. Coupling the expertise of Quade’s cuisine experimentation with Fil’s trend and market foresight is key to Grounded’s take off in more markets than one.
“We’re always working on new things, we’re essentially an R&D unit, but there’s a long way for us to go with development of cheese alone,” says Fil. “We’ve filed some of our IP applications back in Australia so we do intend coming back to Australia when it makes sense for us, and when we do, it’ll be because we’ll be replicating our business model that we’ve developed here – working with local supply chains, co- packers, and hopefully farmers as well.” ✷
22 | Food&Drink business | November-December 2020 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au