Plant Based Cheeses Are Put To The Test

Friday, 25 July 2025, 8:10 am
Press Release: The Vegan Society Aotearoa New Zealand

The ever popular Vegan Society Food Awards are pressing ahead at the end of July with a focus on the best plant-based cheeses available in Aotearoa. For the fifth year the Vegan Cheese Awards will be held on 28th July at Khu Khu Eatery in Ponsonby. With twelve categories of cheese to choose from, the judges will hopefully not be cheesed off by the end of it!

Putting their tastebuds to the test this year are six illustrious judges whose skills and expertise span decades and a wealth of different food industry topics. The Vegan Society is delighted to welcome Franco Sessa, a turophile with 24 years experience in the New Zealand specialty cheese industry. His work spans from large corporates to small artisan cheese boutiques, managing cheese making, procurement, supply chain, sales, marketing, export and executive management. Jason Hay, a champion vegan pie maker is set to continue his journey of discovering excellence in vegan cooking and creativity, as one of the esteemed judges at our annual Vegan Cheese Awards.

Tracy Berno is an experienced panel judge and has judged many competitions and food awards starting in the early 2000s. She was recently named as one of the 50 most influential and inspiring women in food and drink in New Zealand. Tom Sainsbury is known for his comedic acting and writing and he is passionate about vegan foods, so he is delighted to be the “people’s taster” for the Vegan Food Awards.

And of course the industry stalwarts Aaron Pucci, whose trusted palate has earned him numerous seats on judging panels for awards in New Zealand and Australia for over 20 years. Jasbir “Jazz” Kaur has been judging in New Zealand’s Regional and National culinary salon competitions for the past 14 years and is deputy chief judge for the Hospitality Championships.

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All six judges are preparing to be wowed by the variety of plant-based cheeses that will be showcased in these awards. They will be testing cheeses in the following categories:

Commercial Cheddar
Commercial Flavoured Cheddar

Artisan (cheddar, gouda, hard cheese etc)

Mozzarella

Feta

Cream Cheese (plain) 
Cream Cheese (flavoured)

Soft Cheese (ricotta, chevre, cottage cheese etc)

Flavoured Cheese Board (herb, cumin, etc)

Brie, Camembert and Blue style
Cheese Spread

Innovation Category

For more information about the Cheese Awards check out the website https://vegansociety.org.nz/nz-vegan-cheese-awards/

More about the Vegan Society Aotearoa New Zealand:

The Vegan Society supports and facilitates a vegan lifestyle and plant-based eating by creating a vibrant, visible and influential community, and by providing resources and information.

For more information see our website www.vegansociety.org.nz

Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/VegSocNZ

Interact on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/vegansocietynz

Tweet us on Twitter https://twitter.com/vegan_nz

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