Overview
Those Vegan Cowboys is headquartered in Ghent, Flanders, and uses precision fermentation to produce dairy proteins without cows. The company was founded by the entrepreneurs behind The Vegetarian Butcher, a Dutch plant-based meat brand later acquired by Unilever, giving the founding team a strong track record in alternative protein commercialization.
The company raised EUR 6.25M in December 2025 and has established a partnership with Hochland, a major European cheese manufacturer. The Hochland partnership signals interest from established dairy industry players in exploring precision fermentation as a future production pathway.
Funding history
- EUR 6.25M (December 2025)
Key people
In the news
- This is a breakthrough for the entire dairy industry. For the first time, we can produce one of the most important proteins in milk without cows, and we have reached this important American safety milestone. This brings large-scale application in food products a significant step closer.” CEO Hille van der Kaa explains in a Dutch interview (see link in comments, for Dutch readers). Grateful for all the kind words Margaret's Finest got from you all since receiving the FDA 'No Questions' letter. A milestone for dairy, since it's
- BREAKING NEWS 🧀Margaret’s Finest casein just got the nod from Uncle Sam 🤠 Those Vegan Cowboys today announced that its Margaret’s Finest has become the first precision fermentation-derived casein to receive a “no questions” letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), following the agency’s review of its Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) notification. A big day for Margaret’s fans in the US, for we have amazing cheeses waiting in the wings: pizza-perfect mozzarella, goat-free feta, a cream cheese, camembert
- In 2014, 13% of the population of this Belgian city described themselves as flexitarian. This year, 83% did. Here is how everyone was convinced to eat their greens, and love them” Beautiful article by The Guardian showcasing exactly why we’re such proud and grateful cowboys, to be part of Ghent’s green ecosystem 🤠 Hafsa El-Bazioui Laura Verhulst Gent Klimaatstad Stad Gent Tom De Vleesschauwer Stijn Sprengers Oh!MA Tom Wauters Steven Geysens 🧀 “Two cheese scientists, Hannes Decadt and Mathilde Blin, proudly show me some of
- Today, we say ‘so long' to our long standing CTO, ‘The Sheriff' Will Van den Tweel. And we welcome our new CTO, Einte-Karst Dijk. Now this isn't just any ol’ handing over the reins moment. Will has been the Sheriff of this getup since forever, way before the idea of a stainless steel cow was born. And since day one, Will has kept the tech steady and the team close. The kind of sheriff everyone in town wanted on their side: sharp, funny and always ready for a good chat. With a feel for both people and tech that you seldom come
- Here is a way to reduce the impact of dairy”. French-Belgian TV news RTBF La Une launched head first into Margaret’s cow-free casein universe and coupled it to a solid analysis on how to reach Belgiums CO2 goals by 2050. In short: eat more plants, breed fewer animals. Precision fermentation is the key to keep enjoying the cheese we know and love, leaving behind the downsides we can no longer afford. Very worthwhile item, free to watch at Auvio: https://lnkd.in/eqTM86nm Founding Father Benoît Feyt RTBF Hille van der Kaa
- What excites me the most is that precision fermentation allows us to do more than simply reproduce the proteins we already know from cow’s milk. We can investigate different caseins with different functional and nutritional properties.” NutraIngredients shines a spotlight on our latest project: cow-free casein for the next generation of high-protein products. No cows harmed in the process because Margaret, our stainless steel cow, does all the heavy lifting 🏋️♀️ Proud to ride alongside Interfood Group, XXL Nutrition and HAS green
- Precision fermentation makes it possible to make specific nutrients affordable." “Working together is essential." Like bluegrass music to our ears, those two lines hung in the air like dust on the prairie after the Voedselrede 2026. This Monday, Those Vegan Cowboys rode into The Hague to join 300 guests for the annual food proclamation by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (Ministerie van Landbouw, Visserij, Voedselzekerheid en Natuur). Margrethe Jonkman, Chair of the Executive Board at Vrije
- Will a Michelin star chef be the first to serve Margaret's real cowless cheese?* Guess who were invited to at the Michelin Guide Ceremony 2026 in Maastricht 🤠 Our Commercial & Applications Chief Svetlana (Lana) Zivanovic joined Karin Stroeken of LIOF, Suus Verhoeven of Mosa Meat, Veevek Doolabh and Lodewijk van der Meer (The Mulder Institute), together representing the future of ingrediënts for gastronomy. In particular next generation ingrediënts and production methods that have the potential to not only make responsible and
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