By Tara Duggan, San Francisco Chronicle

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

High Sierra Rustic Alpine is ready to be aged at Miyokos Kitchen in Fairfax.

High Sierra Rustic Alpine is ready to be aged at Miyokos Kitchen in Fairfax.

CEO and founder Miyoko Schinner, who makes artisanal vegan cheese from cultured nuts and nut milks, shows the Miyokos Kitchen cheese aging room in Fairfax.

CEO and founder Miyoko Schinner, who makes artisanal vegan cheese from cultured nuts and nut milks, shows the Miyokos Kitchen cheese aging room in Fairfax.

Production associates Cori Ander (left) and Lance Domdey (back) make High Sierra Rustic Alpine cheese at Miyoko's Kitchen in Fairfax in 2014.

Production associates Cori Ander (left) and Lance Domdey (back) make High Sierra Rustic Alpine cheese at Miyoko's Kitchen in Fairfax in 2014.

High Sierra Rustic Alpine cheese has its temperature read while churning at Miyoko's kitchen in Fairfax in 2014.

High Sierra Rustic Alpine cheese has its temperature read while churning at Miyoko's kitchen in Fairfax in 2014.

Production assistant Cori Ander readies High Sierra Rustic Alpine cheese to be aged at Miyoko's kitchen in Fairfax in 2014.

Production assistant Cori Ander readies High Sierra Rustic Alpine cheese to be aged at Miyoko's kitchen in Fairfax in 2014.

Vegan cheese startup Miyokos Kitchen drawing lots of investors

When she started her first vegan food company in 1997, Miyoko Schinner couldnt get anyone to invest in the business, despite its $1 million in annual sales. She closed that company, Now and Zen, in 2003.

People werent putting money into food certainly not vegan food, said Schinner. Vegan food was something you had to explain to people.

Oh, how things have changed. Just over two years after Schinner founded Miyokos Kitchen, a producer of plant-based cheese, the Fairfax company has received $6 million in funding. The investment will help pay for a much larger Petaluma facility and more efficient equipment that will help it keep up with demand. Its products, like cashew-based Cultured VeganButter and Fresh VeganMozz, are sold across the country in at least 2,000 stores, including Trader Joes, Raleys and Whole Foods.

After starting out making 800 rounds of cheese per week, the company now produces 100,000 a month. Schinner expects to hit $10 million in sales this year, and 10 times that in five years.

The explosive growth was not part of the original plan. We were going to be a local, artisanal producer like Cowgirl (Creamery), have a retail shop and sell our products in Northern California, said Schinner, also a cookbook author and co-host of the cooking show Vegan Mashup. It didnt work out that way.

The new investment also will allow Schinner to add a line of more basic cheeses with the same nutritional value as, for example, a milk-based cheddar cheese. They will cost $5 to $6, as compared to the current price of $10 to $13 for packages of her artisanal vegan cheeses. Shes also about to introduce a smoked mozzarella version.

The funding comes from JMK Consumer Growth Partners, joining previous investors like Obvious Ventures, the venture capital firm of Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, which also backs the plant-based companies Urban Remedy and Beyond Meat.

Schinner said that their interest shows how much the market has changed in the 20 years since she started her first food business, a change she attributes largely to Millennials.

People are eating foods that align to their mission in life, she said. Its more about conscious eating and the relationship between the food on your plate and the impact it has, not just on your own health.

Schinner believes her investors are not just responding to current trends but what they think the future will bring: (Investors are) aware of the greater impacts of food and they realize this is the time to get in on it.

Tara Duggan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taraduggan

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Vegan cheese startup Miyoko's Kitchen drawing lots of investors - SFGate