‘Fromance’ WildWestLand: Dutch Dairy Giant Partners With Those Vegan Cowboys To Launch 100% Plant-Based Cheese Line

Dutch cheese makers Westland Cheese, known for its cheese brands like Maaslander, Old Amsterdam and Trenta, have joined forces with alternative dairy startup Those Vegan Cowboys to launch a plant-based dairy line WildWestLand with the first products set to be available in Dutch supermarkets this summer.

Based in the Netherlands, Westland Cheese’s CEO Henny Westland committed to making all the company’s cheese climate-neutral by 2036 and in tandem with this, he decided to start a joint plant-based cheese line with Those Vegan Cowboys – founded by the same people who started plant-based meat brand Vegetarian Butcher – Jaap Korteweg and Niko Koffeman.

Founded in early 2020, Those Vegan Cowboys has 23 scientists working to develop plant-based casein, (considered the most crucial protein component in milk), through the process of micro-fermentation and recently it issued a record-breaking global “bounty hunt” to find a fungal strain that can create cheeses and dairy products which taste and feel exactly like its counterparts.

With this new joint venture, Westland becomes the first large traditional Dutch cheese maker to enter the market with a plant-based cheese that is vegan and made from a microbial variety developed from grass. The company claims it is close to the taste and feel of traditional cheese but without the use of any cows and will be working further on developing its properties.

Apart from this, the WildWestLand’s mascot is Annie, who meets a cowboy that has some crazy ideas about a steel cow and the celebration of their plant-based ambitions is called ‘Fromance’, a term used in the new plant-based cheese line.

In a press release seen by Green Queen, Henny Westland said: “Our dream is simply to make the most delicious plant-based Fromance. We bonded over our shared love for cheese and cheese preparation. Working together enables us to apply 85 years of cheese making experience to an animal and environmentally friendly development. The results of which will pleasantly surprise any cheese lover.”

Working together enables us to apply 85 years of cheese-making experience to an animal and environmentally friendly development

Henny Westland, CEO of Westland Cheese

Korteweg said: “I hope that our collaboration with Westland Cheese will lead to them reaching their goal of being climate neutral in 2036 by going 100% plant-based, and that it will come with a 1000% growth in turnover. It would be great news for cows, their calves, people and the planet alike.”

By mid-June 2021, Dutch consumers will be able to purchase the line’s first three Fromances – Cream Passionel, Garlic & Herb Affair and the Unguilty Pleasure Dip with more products slated to launch in the second half of 2021 and even before the official launch, customers will have an opportunity to taste these products in a ‘plant-based lover’s lunch’.

The brand is in talks with several sales channels in the country and will soon be available at Albert Heijn, the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands, and profits from WildWestLand will be redirected back into innovating new plant-based varieties in the future.

Read: Fancy Some Plant-Based Fromage? Here Is A Quick Guide To Asia’s Best Vegan Cheese Startups

Lead image courtesy of WildWestLand.