Bye, Cow’s Milk! Owner of Major Dairy Brands Just Acquired Go Veggie

There has been a clear pattern recently with Americans drinking more plant-based milk and less dairy milk. In fact, milk consumption has been on a decline in the U.S. – a whopping 40 percent since 1970. More and more people are “getting it” and passing up cow’s milk for something much healthier and sustainable, like hemp, almond, coconut, rice or soy milk.

GreenSpace, Inc., a conglomerate that owns a number of dairy brands, seems to understand the growing market because the company just recently acquired Galaxy Nutritional Foods Inc., owners of Go Veggie, a cheese alternative company, for a whopping $17.8 million! With Go Veggie cementing itself as one of the leading cheese alternative brands in the U.S., GreenSpace hopes the acquisition will not only make them a leader in the plant-based marketplace but also help them keep in touch with consumer needs and trends. While some of Go Veggie’s cheeses do contain dairy products, they also make vegan options.

“With the acquisition of Go Veggie, we enter our most sought-after vertical, plant-based dairy alternatives. This is truly a transformative acquisition for us. We will continue to develop their Canadian sales strategy through the leveraging of our current platform and strategically initiate our U.S. development by leveraging their platform,” said GreenSpace CEO Matthew von Teichman in a statement.

The plant-based and dairy-free alternative sectors have been seeing a ripple-effect over the last few years that doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. In fact, the plant-based cheese industry is set to be worth over $3.5 billion by 2023, with plant-based milk set to reach $16.3 billion in 2018. No longer a fad diet or a niche lifestyle, eating plant-based is growing in popularity, and will most likely keep growing as people become more conscious of what they eat. And now with GreenSpace’s help, vegan cheese will become even more accessible to the general public, making it clear the future of food is plant-based!

GreenSpace’s acquisition of Galaxy Nutritional Foods Inc. comes just after Danone acquired WhiteWave Foods for $12.5 billion recently, stating that the move was largely motivated by their interest in WhiteWave’s huge dairy-free brands. And just this year, Danone, reported a $760 million dollar profit spike due to their dairy-free brands and has since invested $60 million dollars to expand their vegan offerings.

To learn more about the impact of our food choices as well as trends and developments in the plant-based food space, check out our podcast #EatForThePlanet with Nil Zacharias.

Image Source: Go Veggie/Instagram