Born from its DIY roots at a farmers' market in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2018, Bandit has grown its presence as a vegan cheese brand in foodservice and then retail.
Since establishing distribution partnerships with Lancaster Farm Fresh on the East Coast and Pod Foods on the West Coast, Bandit has expanded “nationwide,” including to all of Erewhon's stores in California, but the company relies on wholesale distribution to “unique co-ops” for its “core products,” Babaki said.
He is in charge of national distribution of the Bandits. The New York TimesThe article featured the company alongside several other cheese makers.
In 2021, venture capital firm Prime Movers Lab approached Babaki to raise $1.5 million in funding to enable the expansion of the team and commercial operations.
“This investment has allowed us to expand the dairy a bit more, hire a bit more and train our people for the future. But buying big machinery was also a big issue because we were using blenders,” Babaki said.
Bandit's funding has also allowed for a rebranding that evokes a more playful and “stand out” image, Babaki said.
Babaki added that Bandit is currently sold direct to consumers at eatlikeabandit.com or welovebandit.com.
Stand out with a clear ingredients list​
Inspired by brie, blue, goat and cream cheese, the cashew-based cheese is made through fermentation with cultures, lactic acid, coconut oil and water to achieve a taste and texture that rivals its dairy counterparts.
Babaki highlighted the clean ingredient list for each cheese variety, including cheeses that focus on technique and maturation, such as cave-aged cheeses, which take a long time to mature.
“The base of our cheese is made from cashew nuts, filtered water and coconut. [oil]”Fermentation requires a number of different things – fermenters, cultures, salts,” Babaki said, adding that the same is true for Bandit's cave-aged Bloomy Rind cheese, which requires “additional surface cultures.”