How this Ontario woman cooked up an Un-Brie-Lievable vegan cheese business

Inside a warehouse on the edge of London, Ont., wheels of cheese sit aging on metal racks.

Stainless steel tanks hum nearby. Workers move between stations, filling moulds and sealing packages.

At first glance, the factory resembles a traditional dairy operation. It isn’t.

What started as Margaret Coons’s project to make vegan cheese she couldn’t find anywhere else has grown from a farmers’ market stall into Nuts For Cheese. The brand is now sold in major grocery stores across North America, including Costo and Metro.

Coons recently earned the company a Manufacturer Award from the London Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s pretty surreal,” she said of the popularity of the dairy-free products that have names like Un-Brie-Lievable and Super Blue. “It’s really, really cool to see what we’ve built together.”

That recognition reflects years of gradual growth — a process rooted in how Coons first began working with food…(Read more).

Published on January 11, 2026Written by Josiane N’tchoreret-MbiamanyOriginally published by CBC News