{"id":20085,"date":"2023-06-01T15:38:16","date_gmt":"2023-06-01T15:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/this-is-vegan.com\/?p=20085"},"modified":"2026-10-02T16:10:51","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T16:10:51","slug":"all-cheese-the-fight-for-vegan-alternatives-in-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/this-is-vegan.com\/en\/all-cheese-the-fight-for-vegan-alternatives-in-court\/","title":{"rendered":"All cheese? – The fight for vegan alternatives in court"},"content":{"rendered":"

Already on “Die H\u00f6hle der L\u00f6wen,” Happy Cheeze wowed millions of TV viewers, as well as Frank Thelen and Carsten Maschmeyer with their cashew-based “cheese alternative.”<\/p>\n

Last year, Happy Cheeze GmbH was sued because the company advertises its vegan products with the words ‘cheese alternative’.<\/p>\n

In the current lawsuit, the advertising of the products with the term “cheese alternative” is under attack. The Wettbewerbszentrale refers to a ruling of the ECJ, according to which the term “cheese” is only reserved for products of animal origin and is also prohibited for plant products if informative additives are used to indicate the plant nature of the product.<\/p>\n

Happy Cheeze was now in court over the dispute. How it came to that, how the negotiation ended and which effects that has on the entire Veggie industry, tells us managing director Dr. med. Mudar Mannah in the interview.<\/p>\n

Hi Mudar, thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview. What does your company offer and what makes your products so special?<\/h2>\n

Mudar Mannah:<\/strong> Happy Cheeze GmbH was a matter of the heart from the very beginning: <\/p>\n

In 2012 I founded the company, with the goal through innovative plant-based products , to bring the principle of plant-based nutrition not only to vegans and create a cheese alternative that tastes, but to create an innovative food novelty for everyone. Meanwhile, we are one of the leading companies for the production of cheese alternatives according to traditional production. What makes our products special is the way they are made. <\/p>\n

We are not trying to imitate a cheese product like many other vegan cheese alternative manufacturers. Therefore, we use techniques from traditional cheese making to produce our products. The cashew milk is fermented, thickened, shaped and then ripened under daily control into the tasty products that our customers appreciate so much.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Fresh \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

You were warned about your products and won the court case yesterday in the first instance. How exactly did it come about?<\/h2>\n

\n Mudar Mannah: <\/strong>
\nLast year, Happy Cheeze GmbH was sued by Wettbewerbszentrale e.V. for injunctive relief because we advertise our cashew products with the addition ‘cheese alternative’ and called them Happy Cheeze.
Due to the well-known ECJ ruling, we saw no chance to keep the term Cheeze in the context of product naming and reached an agreement with the Wettbewerbszentrale, but pointed out that we are of a different opinion regarding the use of cheese alternative and will not refrain from using it. This was followed by the lawsuit against us.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Team
The Happy Cheeze Team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Are you aware of a case where a consumer felt truly deceived because it was not an animal product?<\/h2>\n

\n Mudar Mannah: <\/strong>
\nNo! In the past 7 years, I am not aware of any case where a customer felt deceived and actually wanted to buy an animal product instead of our products.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Vegan \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Does the bill only affect vegan cheese alternatives or other products as well?<\/h2>\n

\n Mudar Mannah: <\/strong>
\nHere is a quote from our law firm Wilde Beuger Solmecke in Cologne:
“The reasoning of the district court – assuming it holds – is also likely to have an impact on the guiding principles of the Food Book Commission, because what is permissible for milk and cheese is all the more likely to be so for sausage and meat, and once we have a word in the form of the term “alternative” that, in the opinion of the courts, sufficiently distinguishes us from animal products in the labeling of plant-based products, then – thinking optimistically – it may only be a matter of time before soy milk is also finally allowed to emerge from the shadow of its term illegality.”<\/p>\n