food

Oatly Selects Philadelphia To Test New Plant-Based Cream Cheese

 

There’s a new cream cheese in Philadelphia—but it’s not called Philadelphia cream cheese.

Oat milk pioneer Oatly has chosen the birthplace of the United States to test its first plant-based cream cheese in public tastings whose participants include Philly native and Olympic gold medalist figure skater Tara Lipinski—plus a fake Benjamin Franklin.

Philadelphia—the name of Kraft’s brand of cream cheese—is also the home of Oatly’s research and development lab, where the new product was invented.

Through March 31, Oatly is testing what’s labeled a “non-dairy alternative” at local bagel chains Spread Bagelry and Philly Bagels.

In this spot, Philadelphians taking part in the tastings are asked to name the things for which the city is known.

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“I don’t know how popular pizza pretzels are, but we got pizza pretzels,” responds a shirtless, heavily tattooed man.

To throw in a touch of history, a man dressed as Benjamin Franklin is described as an “affordable impersonator” whose response to tasting the cream cheese is “It’s actually not that bad.”

Lipinski does not appear in the spot but was on hand for tastings at Spread Bagelry.

According to Oatly, the plant-based cream cheese will be available in the “wider U.S. market later this year.”

“The hope is that Philadelphians adopt Oatly’s cream cheese the same way they’ve adopted other hometown staples like greased street poles, Gritty and the 2006 film ‘Invincible,’” the company said in a news release.

To clarify: Gritty is the name of the furry orange critter who is the official mascot of the Philadelphia Flyers National Hockey League team, while greased poles refers to the tactic used to keep Philadelphia Eagles football fans from climbing lamp posts following team victories.

 

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