Berkeley fromager cheesed when S.F. food competition yanks back award

BERKELEY -- A Berkeley company was about to win top honors in a prestigious food competition for its plant-based blue cheese until a change of rules created one big cheesy controversy.

As vegan cheese is extremely difficult to make, it was a huge accomplishment for Climax Foods' blue cheese to be considered the best when competing against traditional cheeses in the Good Food awards, run by the eponymous San Francisco foundation.

"I got an e-mail in January that we were not just finalists but winners," said Oliver Zahn with Climax Foods.

Then came a technicality that Zahn didn't even know about.

"Literally a week ago or two weeks ago, they changed their website to say 'Oh now it also has to be GRAS certified," he said. "Then we were excluded a week or two before the competition which is a little confusing is one way to put it."

GRAS is an FDA acronym for "Generally Regarded as Safe." The ingredient which became the center of controversy is kokum butter which is derived from seeds of the kokum tree and is not GRAS certified.

"If it would've been a requirement. We could've given them another version of the cheese that uses cocoa butter which is one of the versions we have," Zahn said.

This controversy has even made the rounds on Late Night with Stephen Colbert, bringing levity to a disappointing situation.

"I love the way (Colbert) described blue cheese: 'It tastes like foot,'" Zahn laughed.

Although this cheese is not available for retail yet, it is being used in one of San Francisco's fine restaurants, Atelier Crenn.

Chef and owner Dominique Crenn says she grew up on blue cheese in France.

"I knew it was going to win because, literally, if I was blind and I couldn't see, I would tell him this is an amazing blue cheese," Crenn said.

Climax Foods is constantly working to come up with the perfect scientific recipe to create the next best cheese. Their goal is to make a product that tastes just as good as dairy cheese at an affordable price.

Oliver Zahn doesn't want to fight with the dairy industry, just coexist.

"Whatever happened, we were disqualified. I don't want to blame anybody," he said. "I just want to offer consumers alternatives."