To the Women Building Something From Nothing

This is for all the women building businesses at kitchen tables, a farmer's markets, in shared commercial kitchens, and on laptops after an already taxing day.

Starting something is daring. Sustaining it is braver. But, growing it in industries that were not built with us in mind takes a particular kind of resilience.

Women in business often navigate tighter access to capital, smaller networks, fewer introductions, and higher expectations. We are asked to prove viability before we're given an opportunity. We are expected to scale without the same safety nets. We are encouraged to lead, but often without being fully invited into the rooms where decisions are made.

And still, we build.

We build with grace. We build with creativity. We build with resourcefulness and grit. We build without waiting for permission.

Being a woman-owned business is not just a demographic detail. It represents persistence in the face on uneven systems, innovation born from constraint and leadership that looks different. And that difference is powerful.

If you're building something of your own, I hope you know this: your table, your dream, your beginning, however small, is not small at all.

With love,

Gwendolyn

Founder, Darë Vegan Cheese

We are a Woman-Owned Business and WBENC Certified

Darë is officially certified as a Woman's Business Enterprise (WBE) through WBENC, the gold standard for women-owned business certification in the United States.

WBENC exists to address a long-standing imbalance in the business world: women-owned and minority-owned businesses still receive only a small fraction of funding, contracts, and retail placement compared to their larger counterparts.

Certification isn't symbolic. It's structural.

WBENC works to create real change by:

• Opening doors with major retailers, suppliers, and partners who prioritize certified women-owned businesses. 
• Creating visibility so consumers and buyers can easily identify and support women-owned brands. 
• Building equity by connecting underrepresented founders with opportunities they've historically been excluded from.

In short, it helps level a playing field that wasn't built level.

And to be part of that, matters deeply.

We've Always Been Woman-Owned

Darë has been woman-owned since inception in September 2019. 

There was no corporate launch and definitely no glossy investor pitch deck. Just a plastic table at a farmer's market, a cooler full of cheese, and a dream that plant-based cheese, and business, could be done well. 

 That plastic table represented independence. Creativity. Risk. And the belief that there is room in this industry for something different.

Why Representation Matters

The food industry shapes culture, agriculture, health and it creates the experiences we all have around the dinner table. And historically, it has not equally represented women or minority founders at scale.

When you walk into a grocery store, the brands that make it to the shelf are often backed by funding networks and legacy systems that are not accessible to everyone.

Certification helps challenge that.

It provides access to:

• Corporate supplier diversity programs
• Retailer partnerships
• Procurement pipelines
• National growth opportunities

It creates visibility in rooms where decisions get made. And it ensures that when we grow, we can continue to grow with integrity.

Woman-Owned and Plant-Based: That's Not a Coincidence

Choosing to build a vegan cheese company was always about more than dairy alternatives. It was about offering food that supports people's health. Food that respects dietary boundaries. Food that supports the planet to be here for the long run.

Being woman-owned aligns with that same ethos.

• It means leading with care and conviction.
• It means building something rooted in values, not just velocity.
• It means redefining what strength in business looks like.

Darë exists at the intersection of flavor and intention.

We make bold, cultured plant-based cheeses that taste incredible and feel good in your body. And we do it while advocating for broader representation in the business ecosystem.

That's not branding. That's alignment. That's our purpose.

Every Purchase Is Participation

When you choose Darë, you're choosing:

• A certified woman-owned business
• A brand rooted in farmer's market beginnings
• A vegan cheese company built without venture funding
• A company committed to growth without losing its soul

And yes, you're enjoying exceptional plant-based cheese.

But you're also doing something bigger.

You're supporting diversity in the food industry through access and representation. And you're helping ensure that future founders, especially women and minorities, see a path that feels possible.

Consumer choice is powerful.

Daring Enough to Do Business Differently

Darë has always been daring.

Daring enough to rethink cheese.

Daring enough to start small.

Daring enough to grow thoughtfully.

Daring enough to lead as a woman in an industry that doesn't always make that easy.

And daring enough to take up space and exclaim, "I'm a woman and I DID THAT."