She never sleeps, and she doesn’t need antibiotics: the stainless steel cow from Those Vegan Cowboys. By means of a special machine and micro-organisms, the company creates plant-based cheese that has the same characteristics as the animal version. “This is the logical next step in farming”, says Hille van der Kaa, Chief Operational Cowboy at Those Vegan Cowboys, during her presentation at Dutch Innovation Days.
A cheese platter, a bowl of yogurt. Who doesn’t love it? We are all too eager to continue eating dairy. Yet, we know that something has to change in the food industry. “A cow needs over 50.000 calories and more than 150 liters of water to produce 25 liters of milk. So, it is clear that the cheese-making process of today is far from efficient”, states Van der Kaa, during an event at Dutch Innovation Days called How to Revolutionize the Dairy Industry.
Animal-free cheese
A lot of vegan cheeses you encounter at the supermarket are made, for example, with cashew nuts or coconut oil. That means the taste is not the same compared to regular cheese. However, Those Vegan Cowboys takes a different approach.
Van der Kaa explains: “We start with grass and feed it to our stainless steel cow we call Margaret. This machine produces casein, an important protein for cheese that is normally found in animal milk. This gives the cheese its distinctive flavor. So our cheese tastes exactly the same as the cheese you already know.”
Besides the fact that animal-free cheese is made with fewer calories and less water, it has other advantages. It resolves animal welfare issues, there are no methane emissions, and a significant amount of land could be freed up when moving towards a plant-based dairy industry. “Currently, 30 percent of all the land on earth is used for agriculture. Most of it is used for animal farming. Let’s use our land more efficiently so that we have enough space to feed the growing population.”
A family of farmers
Van der Kaa comes from a family of farmers. At every family meeting, someone always asks her whether she wants to destroy their industry. “I love my family, and I certainly don’t want to destroy their business”, she explains. But the system we have right now cannot stay.” And for farmers, animal-free cheese is an opportunity rather than a threat, she thinks. “We still need grass and farmers in the future. It’s just a different type of farming. I think we all have a bright future ahead of us.”
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