What Jay&Joy does

Jay&Joy is a French artisan manufacturer of plant-based cheese alternatives, founded in 2015 in Paris and operating with 11–50 employees from a headquarters at 83 boulevard de Sébastopol and a production workshop in La Croix-Saint-Ouen (Oise). The company produces vegan, certified organic cheese alternatives — including blue (Jeanne), Camembert (Joséphine, Albert), goat (Jil), Maroilles (Jean-Jacques), grated Emmental (Juliette), feta (Janis), cream cheese (Justine), and raclette (Josette) — using plant bases such as almonds, cashews, coconut, chickpeas, and soy. Its core technical differentiator is the adaptation of traditional French cheese-making and affineur techniques to plant matrices: a vegetable matrix replaces lactose as the fermentation base, allowing mould development and aging profiles that mimic dairy cheese. The Jean-Jacques Maroilles alternative won the Sirha Green Awards 2022 in the Food/Beverages category, validating the technical credibility of this approach.

The business operates a two-brand, two-channel go-to-market model. The Jay&Joy brand is distributed through specialty organic retailers in France (Biocoop, Naturalia, La Vie Claire, and others) and across eight European countries via local organic chains and online marketplaces; Les Nouveaux Affineurs, acquired in February 2025 for €2 million, adds 1,000+ mass-retail locations. Direct-to-consumer e-commerce through jay-joy.com with Chronofresh refrigerated delivery complements wholesale, and a 3kg Justine cream cheese SKU targets food-service and catering accounts. Pricing follows a premium unit model (€3.29–€6.00 per retail unit), with free French delivery above €40. The company has raised approximately €6 million across three disclosed funding rounds (2023, 2025, 2026) from impact-oriented investors including Demeter, Beyond Impact, Mindstone, Vivegan, and Makesense, and is targeting 3 million units of annual production by 2027 alongside a planned UK market entry in 2026 under CEO César Augier, who took over in June 2023 following a listeria crisis under prior management.

Name

Jay&Joy

Legal name

Jay & Joy

Website

https://jay-joy.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Jay&Joy is a French artisan manufacturer founded in 2015 that produces certified organic, vegan cheese alternatives — including Camembert, blue, goat, feta, cream cheese, and raclette — from almonds, cashews, coconut, chickpeas, and soy using traditional French fermentation and affineur techniques adapted for plant matrices, selling through organic specialty retail, mass retail (Les Nouveaux Affineurs, 1,000+ stores), and DTC e-commerce across Europe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Plant-based dairy alternatives

SIC

Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products (2090)

akta.pro primary industry

Plant-Based Cheese Analogues Processing (Slices, Shreds, Blocks, Meltables) (AFAHAJAC)

Keywords

• Vegan cheese alternatives
• Plant-based dairy alternatives
• Organic vegan products
• Artisanal fermented cheese
• Cashew almond cheese

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Direct Product Sales (E-commerce): Direct-to-consumer online sales through their e-commerce platform, with refrigerated home delivery via Chronopost respecting the cold chain.
2. Wholesale to Retailers: Wholesale distribution through organic/bio specialty stores (Biocoop, Naturalia, Bio c' Bon, La Vie Claire) and mass retail (Les Nouveaux Affineurs in 1,000+ locations).
3. European Distribution: Distribution partnerships across Europe including Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and Italy through various retail partners.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Jay&Joy manufactures and sells certified organic, vegan plant-based cheese alternatives made primarily from cashews, almonds, coconut, chickpeas, and soy, fermented and aged using traditional French cheesemaking techniques. The product line spans aged/refined alternatives (blue, Camembert, goat, Maroilles) and fresh alternatives (grated, feta, cream cheese, raclette), sold under the Jay&Joy brand through organic retail and the acquired Les Nouveaux Affineurs brand in mass retail across Europe.

Product overview

Jay&Joy is France's leading plant-based cheese company, offering artisanal vegan cheese alternatives since 2015. The company operates two complementary brands: Jay & Joy (distributed in organic and bio stores across Europe) and Les Nouveaux Affineurs (present in mass retail). The product portfolio centers on refined (affinés) alternatives including Jeanne (blue cheese), Joséphine (Camembert/Brie), Jil (goat cheese), Jean-Jacques (Maroilles), and Albert (Camembert), alongside fresh products including Juliette/Joy Râpé (grated cheese), Janis (feta), Justine (cream cheese), and Josette (raclette). All products are made from plant bases (cashews, almonds, coconut, chickpeas, soy) using traditional cheese-making fermentation techniques, certified organic and vegan.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Jay & Joy: Brand distributed in organic and bio stores across Europe
• Les Nouveaux Affineurs

Products and services

• Jeanne (plant-based blue/Roquefort alternative) Plant-based blue cheese alternative aged to develop blue notes, sold in 90g units at €5.90, made from coconut milk, cashews, almonds and ferments; for consumers seeking a vegan alternative to blue/Roquefort on toasts, pizzas and sauces.
• Joséphine (plant-based Camembert/Brie alternative) Plant-based Camembert/Brie alternative with a subtle, slightly fruity taste and velvety flowered crust, sold in 90g units at €5.90, made from cashews (47%), almonds and ferments; for vegan cheese board and appetizer use.
• Jil (plant-based goat cheese alternative) Plant-based goat cheese alternative in a flowered-crust log shape with rustic character and slightly spiced notes, sold in 120g units at €5.90, made from cashews (46%), almonds, coconut milk and ferments.
• Jean-Jacques (plant-based Maroilles alternative) Plant-based Maroilles alternative with a washed rind, characteristic color and savory garlic notes, sold in 100g units at €5.90; winner of the Sirha Green Awards 2022 Food/Beverages category.
• Albert (plant-based Camembert alternative) Plant-based Camembert alternative with a melting center, smooth texture and delicately flowered crust that evolves from creamy to intense, sold in 100g units at €6.00, made from organic soy juice (63%), cashews and ferments.
• Juliette / Joy Râpé (plant-based grated Emmental alternative) Plant-based grated Emmental alternative designed to melt on pasta, pizzas and gratins, sold in 150g units at €3.90, made from coconut milk, potato starch and tapioca.
• Janis (plant-based feta alternative) Plant-based feta cheese alternative inspired by Greek flavors, sold in 140g units at €3.81, made from fermented coconut milk, coconut oil and corn starch, with creamy texture for Mediterranean recipes.
• Justine (plant-based cream cheese alternative) Plant-based cream cheese alternative made from fermented almond milk (68.5%), coconut oil and citrus fibers, available in 125g retail format (€3.29) and 3kg professional/food-service format (€58.00).
• Josette (plant-based raclette alternative) Plant-based raclette alternative designed to melt and gratinate perfectly, sold in 180g units at €4.99, made from chickpeas (36%), coconut oil and potato starch; for traditional raclette and gratin occasions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Packaging weight reduced by more than half over 2.5 years
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Les Nouveaux AffineurscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcquired brand with production capacity expansion. Present in over 1,000 mass retail locations, enabling two-brand, two-channel strategy. Acquisition valued at €2M.
• Chronopost (Chronofresh)coreOthersLogistics partner providing refrigerated home delivery service (Chronofresh) that respects the cold chain for 24-48 hour delivery.
• BiocoopcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMajor French organic grocery chain and key retail partner for Jay&Joy products in France.
• NaturaliacoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFrench organic retailer and key distribution partner for Jay&Joy products.
• COOP SwitzerlandminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSwiss retail chain offering Jay&Joy products including Jeanne and Jil in Switzerland.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Violife: Violife is Upfield's flagship 100% plant-based cheese brand and the dominant scale player in the European plant-based cheese category, competing head-to-head with Jay&Joy across retail and foodservice channels in Europe. Both brands target vegan and flexitarian consumers seeking dairy-free cheese alternatives.
• Miyoko's Creamery: Miyoko's Creamery is a California-based artisanal plant-based cheese brand that, like Jay&Joy, uses traditional creamery techniques (culturing, aging) adapted to plant milks. Both position at the premium end of the plant-based cheese category with aged and bloomy-rind style alternatives.
• Sheese (Bute Island Foods): Bute Island Foods' Sheese brand is a UK-based plant-based cheese manufacturer producing coconut-oil-based block and sliced cheeses. It is one of Jay&Joy's closest European craft peers in terms of product format and vegan certification, and operates in overlapping UK and European retail channels.
• Follow Your Heart: Follow Your Heart is a US natural foods plant-based brand offering vegan cheeses (slices, blocks, shreds) plus dairy alternatives. Like Jay&Joy, it built its reputation in the natural/organic channel before expanding mainstream distribution, and competes in adjacent product categories such as cream cheese alternatives.
• Daiya Foods: Daiya Foods is a North American plant-based cheese and pizza specialist offering shreds, slices, blocks and cream cheese alternatives. While more mass-market in positioning, Daiya is a direct substitute for Jay&Joy products in pizza, grated, and cream cheese use occasions.
• MozzaRisella: MozzaRisella is an Italian plant-based cheese brand specializing in mozzarella-style and aged alternatives made from rice and almonds. It is a particularly relevant regional peer to Jay&Joy because it shares both the artisanal aging know-how and an explicit European specialty-retail positioning.
• Veganz: Veganz is a German plant-based food brand offering vegan cheeses and other dairy alternatives across European retail. It overlaps with Jay&Joy in Germany and other continental European markets and competes for the same organic-specialty and mainstream vegan consumer.

Broad incumbents

• Nurishh (Bel Group): Nurishh is the plant-based cheese brand of Bel Group, the global dairy incumbent behind Laughing Cow and Babybel. It directly competes with Jay&Joy in mass-retail plant-based cheese but benefits from Bel's enormous dairy distribution and marketing scale across the same European retailers.
• Alpro (Danone): Alpro is Danone's plant-based brand covering milks, yogurts, creams, and increasingly cheese alternatives across European mass retail. As a broad incumbent it competes indirectly with Jay&Joy for the same flexitarian shopping basket but does not specialize in aged plant-based cheese.

Emerging players

• Kite Hill: Kite Hill is a US-based almond-milk-based cheese and yogurt brand emphasizing clean ingredients and artisanal production. It mirrors Jay&Joy's almond-based formulation approach and premium positioning, but is currently more limited in European distribution.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/jayandjoymarket

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Jay&Joy