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Savour Goes Trans-Tasman-Award Winning Vegan Cheese Lands in Australia.

8 hours ago
2 min read
Savour’s Vegan Cheese Crosses the Tasman Media Slide

New Zealand’s artisan plant-based cheesemaker is turning local awards into international business, with Australia now receiving shipments and Singapore potentially next.


There’s something rather satisfying about a New Zealand cheesemaker taking on the Australians without a drop of dairy in sight.


Auckland-based Savour Vegan Creamery has begun exporting its premium cultured cashew cheeses to Australia, following a remarkable run of local food awards and growing interest from Australian specialty retailers.


Founder Auda Finan confirmed to PlanetFood.News the breakthrough followed national publicity surrounding Savour’s Cashbert, a creamy, mould-ripened cashew Camembert-style cheese that won the Supreme Award at the 2026 New Zealand Vegan Cheese Awards.


That recognition, prompted enquiries from Australian retailers and distributors. And those enquiries have now turned into actual shipments.


In September, Savour sent a tasting consignment to Melbourne-based boutique distributor Food to Make You Smile, which supplies speciality retailers throughout Victoria.


Last week, Savour dispatched its first pallet of cheeseboard products to Australia.

Among the Melbourne outlets expected to stock Savour is the well-known Melbourne vegan business Smith + Deli, alongside other boutique delicatessens, cafés and speciality food stores.


The export breakthrough follows an impressive year for Finan, who established Savour in 2017. Cashbert’s Supreme Award was followed by another significant achievement when Auda Finan was named Food Technologist/Developer of the Year at the 2026 New Zealand Food Awards, particularly notable for someone without formal food technology training. Savour also collected gold recognition for its dairy-free Onion Dip and silver for its plant-based Butta.


But the real prize may now be emerging overseas.

Auda Finan says Australia has a definite appetite for premium vegan cheese, particularly Cashbert. An August visit to Queensland also opened discussions with a Brisbane-based vegan retail and distribution business.


Savour anticipates monthly Australian shipments as demand develops, while discussions are already under way for a possible entry into Singapore in 2027.

And that could be where this story becomes particularly interesting.


For New Zealand’s wider NextGen Food sector, there’s a useful lesson here.

Not every successful alternative-protein business needs a multimillion-dollar factory, a novel fermentation platform or a promise to replace the global dairy industry.

Sometimes it begins with a cheeseboard, a product consumers genuinely enjoy and an artisan who knows exactly what she wants to make.

Savour has now taken that proposition across the Tasman.


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