40 WAGENINGENWORLD LIFE AFTER WAGENINGEN

LOES MOOR-HULSHOF, OPERATIONAL DIRECTOR AT THE VEGETARIAN BUTCHER:

‘I want to make sure factory farming is soon superfluous’

Loes Moor-Hulshof is the woman behind The Vegetarian Butcher. Together with frontman Jaap Korteweg and marketing man Nico Koffeman, she has built up the company step by step over the past eight years. It was taken over by Unilever at the beginning of this year. Hulshof is delighted. ‘This is the moment we were waiting for.’

TEXT ASTRID SMIT PHOTOGRAPHY MARIJE KUIPER

n a factory in Breda, a machine is pushing substitutes such as vegetarian hamburgers, This is the kind of language you would ex- out long, fat ribbons of soya dough. chicken, steak tartare and the recently pect from the Dutch party INearby, people are sorting the launched smoked sausage. All of which (Partij van de Dieren) rather than a commer- subsequent product: rough chunks made have to look and taste like real meat. cial company. But those two worlds meet at from these ribbons. These are the ‘At the beginning of this year we were taken The Vegetarian Butcher: Jaap Korteweg, the vegetarian chicken pieces sold in the over by Unilever. Now we can upscale company’s creator and head, was once mar- supermarkets. Along with other meat considerably. In the next few years we want ried to Marianne Thieme, and substitutes, they have entered the fray to to conquer the German and British his business partner Nico Koffeman repre- compete with real chicken. The factory floor supermarkets, then the ones in Scandinavia, sents the animal rights party in the Upper is spacious and could easily accommodate a southern Europe and other western House of the Dutch parliament. Hulshof is few more machines and workers. And that countries. After that we hope to set our a party member too, and a fervent vegetari- is exactly the idea, says operational director sights on the east. We want the whole world an like Korteweg and Koffeman. ‘It makes Loes Hulshof of The Vegetarian Butcher, to start enjoying our vegetarian meat, no sense that we kill and eat animals. It’s the Dutch company that makes meat making factory farming superfluous.’ just so wrong. Seeing being >

WAGENINGENWORLD 41 transported on the motorway brings tears to ment appealed to her more. Hulshof: entre­preneurs Korteweg and Koffeman, who my eyes.’ ‘Thinking in terms of supply chains felt like had big plans but not much experience of Hulshof, who grew up in Lievelde, first stud- a homecoming. The links between the seed finding their way to the market. ‘I talked to ied Food Technology at Van Hall Larenstein and the pork chop. Later I realized it is bet- them, was taken on, and we started setting University of Applied Sciences in ter to make that chop out of the seed more up the organization.’ Friends said she was Leeuwarden. ‘I had been cooking entire din- directly, rather than via a pig.’ crazy to give up a good, permanent job at ners since I was 14, so that choice of degree Mars. ‘They’ve gone quiet about that now,’ programme was logical.’ She finished off TROUT says a proud Hulshof, who got shares in the her applied sciences degree at 20 and, not When Hulshof was studying Food company when she started there. ready for the job market yet, enrolled to do Technology in Wageningen, she was still a They have formed an effective triangle over Food Technology in Wageningen, majoring carnivore. Until one day, when she went the years since they started in 2010, says in Food Process Engineering. Atze Jan van trout fishing with her family. ‘I didn’t mind Hulshof. Korteweg is the public face of The der Goot, now professor of Protein catching the fish. But I couldn’t kill it. It Vegetarian Butcher, Koffeman is the market- Structuring and Sustainability, was her su- seemed to be asking me, what are you do- ing and communication brain, and Hulshof pervisor. She found out, though, that she ing? Soon after that I stopped eating meat.’ is the organizer. ‘Setting up all the company was not really a born technologist; her mi- And this was someone who had grown up operations that facilitate the growth of the nor about integral food logistics manage- on a farm: Hulshof’s father was a dairy brand: that is what I’ve been doing for the farmer. Her brother, who studied in past eight years.’ Communication, the pro- Wageningen too, took over the farm from duction of artificial meat, supplying super- his father. ‘My brother loves meat and can’t markets, recruitment, packaging, internal stand the animal rights party. I come from a controls: Hulshof did whatever was needed real CDA (Christian Democrat) family. That at any given moment. ‘We built it up like can be tricky sometimes, although I have that, step by step.’ stayed on good terms with my family. My Collaboration with partners was a very delib- brother was a witness at my wedding.’ erate strategy for the company. ‘Until two After graduating, Hulshof worked for years ago, we didn’t have a factory of our Unilever as a trainee, and went on from own but had all our products made in meat there to a job with Mars in Oud Beijerland, factories. Now we produce some of them near Rotterdam. One of her main projects ourselves here in Breda, but most of them was to create a light version of a satay sauce. are still made at Unox and Mora. Those But she didn’t get much satisfaction out of companies will keep their links with us. We this work. At some point, she asked herself: want to become the biggest butcher in the when I’m 80 and looking back on my career, world; we don’t have to make everything LOES MOOR-HULSHOF (1979) will this have been the peak? She tried to in- ourselves.’ 1996-2000: Food Technology, Van Hall troduce one meat-free day in the Mars can- Larenstein teen, but it met with too much resistance. PLANT MEAT MATTERS 2000-2004: Food Technology, WUR One day she read an article in the paper The Vegetarian Butcher also sought 2004-2006: Unilever Unox, process and about her former supervisor, Atze Jan van collaboration with Wageningen University & product development der Goot. In it, he spoke of his latest project: Research, and invested in Van der Goot’s 2006-2007: Unilever Knorr, management developing new meat substitutes. Hulshof research on the structuring of plant proteins trainee got in touch with him and went to see what using something known as shear cell 2008-2010: Mars, innovation project leader he was doing. ‘I wanted to get involved. It technology. This provides a gentle way of for Suzi Wan and Seeds of Change didn’t matter much to me what I would be processing plant proteins from soya or 2010-2012: The Vegetarian Butcher, doing, as long as I could contribute some- wheat to create a structure like that of beef innovation and production manager thing to that plant protein transition.’ steak. Since 2017, this project has been 2012- present: The Vegetarian Butcher, transformed into a large public-private operations director SETTING UP consortium called Plant Meat Matters. Van der Goot put her in touch with the Several companies, including Unilever, are

42 WAGENINGENWORLD LIFE AFTER WAGENINGEN

Loes Moor-Hulshof on the production line for vegetarian hamburgers.

participating with the aim of readying shear- is run by a very strong management team. has not been greeted with such enthusiasm cell technology for industrial application. I don’t do it alone. That might be my in all quarters. Some people are afraid The partners can use the knowledge strength: being able to build up a team that The Vegetarian Butcher has sold its soul. obtained along the way in their day-to-day carries the organization. I actually feel a ‘I understand that. But I’m not worried product development. As soon as Van der bigger responsibility to get the human race about that. Our ideas about the future are Goot’s vegetarian beef steak is ready, The into . That pressure is much quite similar, and the higher goal – the Vegetarian Butcher will get it on the market. stronger. The Vegetarian Butcher is just a growth of plant-based meat on the market – ‘We believe in the power of innovation. means to that end.’ is more important. And we’ve had good We need each other,’ says Hulshof. discussions about that. We are only 0.04 per Since the company started, it has doubled VAST SALES POTENTIAL cent of Unilever, a really tiny little plant. its workforce every year. ‘Now there are So the Unilever takeover is very welcome, They want to keep that plant intact and 85 people working here, and we’ve got says Hulshof. ‘Now we can really conquer nourish it. We get to say which other parts of Unilever we want to make use of in order to grow big.’ Hulshof has her hands full with the takeover. ‘From being an organization with ‘Seeing livestock being transported 85 people, we are now part of a company with 160,000 people. That is a gigantic leap brings tears to my eyes’ of course. How do you organize that well?’ Her own career will always be driven by the higher goal. ‘I’m not out to become the director,’ says Hulshof. ‘I want to make sure factory farming is soon superfluous. More another 10 vacancies again, from product the world and at a blow, we get vast sales and more people are buying vegetarian developer to project leader,’ says Hulshof. potential, with access to supermarkets in products as a matter of course. That is the Isn’t that a massive responsibility? Hulshof 190 countries. That is fantastic. This was the start of a major change, and it’s really great seems relaxed: ‘No, not at all. The company moment we were waiting for.’ The takeover to be doing it.’ W

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