Vegan Deli is the brand for vegan products of Linck sarl, a company that has the vision “to produce Soy Free Organic Vegetarian & Vegan products”.1 The company is based in Monaco, while the production facility is in Tournai, Belgium.2
The standard cheese slices are part of a wide range of cheese and meat alternatives Vegan Deli offers. On the product website it is described as “a plant-based alternative to Swiss cheese type“. On the package, heading the ingredients section it says “Vegan sandwich filling based on pea protein”. Based on the ingredients, we classify it though as a cheese based on coconut oil and starch, the two main ingredients after water, with the pea protein part contributing only 2.3%.
The product packaging and looks are typical for cheese slices, the same appearance as a dairy version that one can find in the supermarket. The smell of the Original slices does resemble a Swiss cheese like Emmental.
When handling the cheese we noticed it is relatively fragile. It would break into pieces quite easily, not slices we would suggest to try to roll up and served as a (filled) roll. As we tasted it, we also similarly noticed it to be relatively drier, crumbly, breaking into pieces in the mouth, not giving the same mouthfeel as we would expect of cheese slices. While the smell did resemble Emmental-style cheese, the taste and mouthfeel do not resemble Swiss cheese however. As a cold product, while we found faint notes of earthy vegetables, we miss principally the savoury cheese taste.
As most coconut oil and starch based vegan cheeses, this cheese melts well when heated. After melting it under the grill, we thought the taste and consistency to be quite improved. So, while this would not be something we would recommend for a cheese platter by itself, we think its best use would be in melted form.
