Daiya Foods has entered the poppable frozen dessert segment with Daiya Cheesecake Bites, a three-SKU line now stocking frozen aisles at Kroger, Sprouts Farmers Market, and Meijer at a suggested retail price of $8.99 per 227-gram bag. The launch pairs a dairy-free positioning with a 100-calorie-per-serving claim — two to three pieces — and marks the plant-based brand's first major athlete partnership.
The Product
Each bite consists of a creamy cheesecake center enrobed in a dark chocolatey coating and is designed for freezer-to-mouth consumption with no thawing required. The line spans three flavors — Original, Strawberry, and Chocolate — sold in individual flavor bags. The format targets the grab-and-go snacking and portioned-dessert trend that has driven volume growth across the frozen novelty and plant-based categories in recent years, as consumers increasingly demand convenience without sacrificing indulgence.
The Partnership
To anchor the launch, Daiya has signed Detroit Pistons point guard and NBA All-Star Cade Cunningham, who publicly follows a dairy-free diet. The partnership is a calculated retail-marketing move: celebrity athlete tie-ins have become a proven mechanism for plant-based brands seeking to broaden their consumer base beyond committed vegans or those with dietary restrictions, reaching mainstream shoppers motivated by lifestyle and performance.
"For me, it's all about balance. I work hard, but I also believe you shouldn't have to miss out on the foods you love. I've followed a dairy-free lifestyle for years, and finding dairy-free desserts that genuinely deliver on taste isn't always easy. Daiya Cheesecake Bites do exactly that," said Cunningham.
John Kelly, Chief Marketing Officer at Daiya, framed the product as an extension of the brand's existing 'Free To Be' platform. "The creamy cheesecake center and rich dark chocolatey coating give you a real dessert experience, and whether you go for Original, Strawberry or Chocolate, two to three pieces are just 100 calories," Kelly said, adding that Cunningham's authentic dairy-free lifestyle made him a credible rather than transactional spokesperson.
Market Context
The launch comes as plant-based frozen dessert competes for shelf space against a wave of protein-forward and reduced-sugar novelty products at major grocery chains. Daiya, which has distributed plant-based cheese and frozen pizza across more than 25,000 grocery locations in the United States and Canada since 2008, is leveraging its existing freezer-aisle footprint to seed the Cheesecake Bites line without requiring new retailer negotiations. International distribution — across Asia, Europe, and Latin America — gives the brand a potential secondary runway for the format if domestic sell-through supports expansion.
For foodservice and grocery buyers, the $8.99 price point positions the bites at a slight premium to conventional frozen novelty multipacks but within range of other specialty plant-based desserts. The individual-bag format also limits the per-occasion commitment for first-time purchasers, a structural advantage for trial-driving at retail.
The Cheesecake Bites category play is consistent with a broader industry pattern documented in recent plant-based frozen food analysis and mirrors retailer interest in better-for-you snack formats that combine indulgence cues with calorie transparency.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
