Those Vegan Cowboys

And that’s why Founding Fathers Jaap Korteweg & Niko Koffeman, after building The Vegetarian Butcher decided to go all-in on a wild idea for real grass-fed cheese made by microbes instead of cows - while people who knew better told them it had 1% chance of success. 5 years later: 🧀 Several kinds of cow-free cheese are nicely ripening for tasting later that year 🛒 Market entry is around the corner 🐮 You raise funds for a whole herd of stainless steel cows 🤠 One of Europe’s biggest traditional cheese making companies (👋 Hochland ) is happy to develop next level animal-free cheese together We strongly suggest that the next time someone asks you “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”, you give them a wink and say “Who can tell?” 🤠 Check https://lnkd.in/dEd4qJBE for the full interview and follow The Green Times for more talks like these 🌱 #thosevegancowboys #precisionfermentation #thegreentimes #lifelessons #devegetarischeslager #jaapkorteweg #nikokoffeman

Respect restored. What a relief would that be, right? We believe that we can end factory farming simply by surpassing animals as meat and dairy-making-machines. Which is, sadly, what many people today consider them to be. The moment high quality proteins from microbial and plant-based origin surpass animal products in taste, economy and nutritional value, it will no longer be lucrative to exploit animals. We can live and eat in abundance, all 10 billion of us, in a ‘no shit’ organic food system that works with nature, not against it. What a goal to work towards - we can hardly wait. #thosevegancowboys #precisionfermentation #alternativeprotein #sustainabledairy #futureoffood #foodinnovation #foodscienceandtechnology #climatesolutions #foodscience #foodtechnology #vegancheese #cheeselover #cheese #plantbased #vegan #futureoffood

We were asked, do current political world events cause us worry? Well, they probably cause pretty much everyone worry right now. But from a cow-free cheese point of view, they don’t. And why? Because we have reason to believe the market will do its thing. Last year, we had two great aha-moments. 💪🏼 One was the discovery that our microbial casein can outperform cow’s casein under certain conditions (we bragged enough about that.) 🫶🏼The other was the enthusiasm we got - from traditional cheese makers! Because of its better functionality, microbial casein suddenly became interesting to cheese makers way, way beyond the vegan realm. The same happened with microbial rennet decades ago. This animal-free rennet is now a staple ingredient in most industrial scale cheeses. They didn’t make a big deal of it. It was silently adopted by the cheese biz. So if you see a vegan cowboy whistling without a care in the world, now you know. Politics will be politics. But cheese will be cheese. And it looks like our biggest impact may just be a silent revolution. That said - bringing our own fancy microbial-made cheeses to your table? We won’t be silent about those. You can count on that 🤠 #precisionfermentation #kindness #altdairy #thosevegancowboys

“Our partners have seen better stretching and melting compared to the animal-sourced version, allowing cheese producers to use less casein with the same result,” she explains. “This will ultimately lower the price of cheese. Now that we’ve got this casein, we want it to make as big an impact as possible.” Our CEO Hille puts all our plans on the table in this interview with Anay Mridul for Green Queen Media 📖 🇺🇸 From the USA’s political climate to hybrid cheeses - no holding back. 👉Before y’all choke on yer oats - yes, our company’s focus is still on 100% animal-free cheeses. And - if we, at the same time, can interest cow-based cheese producers in using microbial casein, just like they’re already using microbial rennet - a shift is set in motion that will mean a world of difference for the animals. First microbial rennet (which made its entry in the '90s), now microbial casein, soon microbial fats - the cheese of the future is on its way 🧀 Full interview at: https://lnkd.in/eZ6q46Ns

Yes we did & sure we do! 🤠👇

“It’s just a matter of time before these delicious cheeses are down at the cheese aisle at your local supermarket, ready for you to try them. This here cowboy cannot wait to see what kinda gold this partnership will have struck.” What happens at the ranch, never stays at the ranch for long 🤫 Check out the brand new Dairy Diary at https://lnkd.in/ee_GCiiJ 🌵

👁️🐯 While you make sure the sound is on for this one: Let’s talk timelines! 2025: - Start of our collab with Hochland group, makin’ hard and semi-hard cheeses with microbial casein - First tastings of cheese made with Margaret’s casein in The Netherlands - Expected market entry in the USA 2026 - Scaling up & further developing cheeses with several partners - Market entry in Asia will soon follow USA 2028 (Ballpark estimate) - Approval in the EU meaning cowless cheese on our own home turf 🤠 🤝 Having found an experienced partner like Hochland Group is a great milestone in this cowless cheese adventure of ours. In our joint development agreement, we’re gonna turn Margaret’s casein into the most delicious hard and semi-hard cheeses of the Alps and way, way beyond 🏔️ #thosevegancowboys #precisionfermentation #vegancheese #cowfreecheese #sustainabledairy #hochlandgroup

As the great creative cowboy David Lynch said, ideas are like fish. In a way they are separate from the person who catches them. They are out there, and you may get lucky. And as it appears, sometimes ideas may be roped in by different persons over time. And while we’re not into catching actual fish, we do like the metaphor. Because it so happened that once upon a time, an organic farmer who just started out as a vegetarian butcher, lost the slides to the talk he was about give. And as he starts scribbling on a piece of paper to explain his story, the idea of a stainless steel cow comes to him. Many years later, after his adventures as a butcher, he starts building the cow. And some friendly folks send him this classic Carl Barks Donald Duck cartoon from 1956: Gyro Gearloose building a hay-to-milk machine. When you enter our ranch in Ghent, you can see it hanging framed in the hallway. Now isn’t that something? So be alert. You never know what idea will come along today. #thosevegancowboys #jaapkorteweg #nikokoffeman #carlbarks #donaldduck #davidlynch

Dear fellow cowboys - we are about to make loads of cheese. Those Vegan Cowboys now team up with the big guns in the dairy game: Hochland Group. You may know the Germany-based Hochland Group from dairy cheese brands Almette, Grünländer & Patros, and vegan brand Simply V. Being one of Europe’s largest cheese wranglers, they know what to do with casein and will help us to make as big an impact as possible, asap. 🤝 We are now in a joint development agreement with them and together, we’re gonna turn Margaret’s casein into the most delicious hard and semi-hard cheeses of the Alps and way, way beyond. The benefits: 🤠 For us – With Hochlands monumental cheese know-how and market coverage, they are a dream partner to get Margaret’s casein out there, in cheeses available for everyone. We are grateful to have found such an experienced partner – and one who shares our reverence for family farms and has sustainable long-term ambitions of their own. 🐮 For the cows – Making cheese with microbial casein means finally lightening the load of mass cheese production for the cows. With Hochland, we work on an alternative as good as the real thing. Big partner equals big relief for cows. Cowboy math 🦾 ❤️ For you – Did we get your attention at ‘semi-hard and hard cheeses’? 🤤 Pretty neat or what? We’ll keep you in the loop cheese-wise – if you have any questions right now, don’t be shy. Hochland Deutschland GmbH Hubert Staub Dr. Sarah Borg Hille van der Kaa Robert van den Breemer Belinda Hunziker Will Van den Tweel

🌾 “In the end, the protein transition is very much like the rise of the electric car. It took ages, despite all investments, and here too Brussels has hit the breaks. But the shift was inevitable. It just happened.” In this FD interview, Founding Father Jaap Korteweg takes a deep dive in his view on big societal transitions - and the move to plant-based in particular. Bottom line: even when things look bleak, history tells us that hope glimmers on the horizon. Check FD.nl for the whole story: https://lnkd.in/eDAj7HDy #FD #jaapkorteweg #proteintransition #eiwittransitie #thosevegancowboys