"People don't want these products, people love dairy."
That's what Sorosh Tavakoli says about his vegan cheese in an interview with Impact Loop on Thursday morning, while announcing that he is shutting down his company Stockeld Dreamery. Those are harsh words.
Once, his company was so hyped that it even inspired a cool startup in the Netflix series Snabba Cash. Now: another vegan brand that disappears.
Stockeld Dreamery aren't the only ones having a tough time. According to the Vegometer 2024/2025, produced on behalf of Axfood, the number of vegetarians and vegans in Sweden has plateaued. Today, 52 percent of Swedes eat vegetarian at least once a week – an increase from 45 percent in 2016, but a decrease from 57 percent in 2023. Even among the youth, the ones who were supposed to save the planet we adults messed up, interest has cooled.
One explanation several vegan entrepreneurs point to is an overbelief in people's willingness to "do good". When the alternative tastes worse or feels more complicated, people opt out – even if the climate thanks them. In times of uncertainty and inflation, morality isn't enough seasoning.
But isn't it also about something else? Do vegan companies simply have a brand problem?
But isn't it also about something else?
My feeling is that the industry has become stuck in the past without anyone really noticing. What once felt healthy – like a pack of soy sausages or marinated Oumph! – now feels like ready meals. There's something about the packaging, the garish colours and, sorry, just the word soy sausages, that no longer feels healthy or hot.
In the book Obviously Awesome, positioning expert April Dunford writes about the importance of getting the label right. A café sells healthy "diet muffins" with nuts and dates. People queue – until a bakery opens next door. Their bestseller is almost the same, but they call it a "gluten-free paleo snack". Customers love it.
Maybe there's something the plant-based industry can learn here. Look at the Western world in autumn 2025, and it's all about intermittent fasting, blood sugar-lowering food, and "longevity" (living longer).
Not even the shocking figure that we can save 40,000 people a day from dying (!) if we eat according to EAT-Lancet's 'planetary diet' seems to make people raise an eyebrow. If anything, it's privileged to demand that the whole world should eat plant-based, as I read in a post on LinkedIn.
Don't get me wrong, this is really sad. Eating plant-based should be more of a rule than an exception. And it can't just be up to consumers and companies to drive this – politicians must dare to lead the way for plant-based.
And of course there are exceptions. Oatly has shown that it is possible to create an entirely new category that is associated with creamy lattes – a better alternative than milk. And at chains like Holy Greens and Greenfood, a fresh salad without meat feels obvious.
Oatly has shown that it is possible to create an entirely new category that is associated with creamy lattes
But overall, the veggie companies need to think anew. Perhaps a massive lobbying campaign is needed, even more longevity guys like Bryan Johnson who eat plant-based to live longer, and new dishes. We need to let the soy sausage die. We need new words (plant-forward, protein-smart or next-gen plant?).
At the same time, we need to make meat something that feels boring and unhealthy.
Maybe that's how we can make veggie – or whatever we want to call it – hot again.
That's what I think – what do you think?