MIYOKO’S CREAMERY

HEADQUARTERS: Petaluma, California FOUNDER: Miyoko Schinner EMPLOYEES: 170

Schinner, who has been making vegan cheese and butter for 30 years, got her start teaching cooking classes and hosting a cooking show. After promoting her fourth cookbook, which featured cheese made from cashews, she started Miyoko’s Creamery in 2014. Her brand now sells alternatives to butter, cream cheese and mozzarella, along with other dairy-free products made from nuts, oats and legumes at 20,000 stores including Walmart and Target. Estimated 12-month revenue through August doubled to more than $30 million, as more shoppers turned to plant-based foods. The Japanese immigrant lives on an animal sanctuary in Northern California’s western Marin County, land grazed by some 70 creatures—cows, donkeys and more.