Meet our cowboys

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  Jari ‘Brave Botanist’ Bertels

  We ain’t sayin’ he’s a golddigger, but when you see DSP research associate Jari sift the casein from Margaret’s fermentation harvest, there sure are similarities. The man brings the same determination to his gardenin’ and boldly goes where no botanist has gone before, tryin’ to grow pawpaw and feijoa (yep – google that) in the brisk Belgian climate.

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  Winter ‘Devil in the Details’ Declercq

  A true friend of the animals, our food lab technician Winter supports our cheese dream team in more ways than we can think of. The man is proficient in climbin’, cookin’, jugglin’ (5 balls!), 3D printin’, laser cuttin’, board gamin’ and balancin’ furniture on his chin. And we’ve barely scratched the surface here. His great eye for detail is just a nice bonus, really.
• 

  Barbara ‘Ride Or Die’ Amato

  When you see a big cloud of dust speedin’ up over Belgian bikelanes, hold on to yer hats – it’s our fermentation & upscaling Process Technologist comin’ in fast on her koersfiets. It took her from the south of Italy to Gent, where she carved 6 years on her holster in both fermentation and DSP. Also, you gotta taste her vegan risotto. To die for.

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  Karin ‘Stitchin’ Sage’ Mussche

  Driven by her fierce love for nature and her (grand)young’uns in particular, Karin traded in the commercial hustle for ranch handin’ duties here in Ghent. This ma’m now secures our common future one e-mail at a time, beltin’ out whatever tune strikes her fancy.

  Even technicolor whirlwinds like Karin need downtime, and she finds balance in gardenin’, strollin’, knittin’, the works. Let this be a lesson to y’all – one of many this Stitchin’ Sage has in store for ya.

• 

  Robert ‘The Tall One’ van den Breemer

  Our CCO (that’s Commercial Chief) is son of more than 5 generations of dairy farmers, trained philosopher, dad of 3 in a family firmly on the veggie trail, grower of food forests, former strategy consultant & Head of Sustainability at one of the largest animal feed co’s of the world and the man who once had beers with Bruce Springsteen. What will ‘The Tall One’ do? Well, it comes down to making all the right connections so that Margaret’s Finest becomes the ‘any old cheese’ in everyone’s fridge, asap.

   

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  Joppe ‘Quickdraw’ Gebruers

  As the micro-organism whisperer in our fermentation team, he speaks the secret language of our little helpers and encourages them to grow. Fast. Also, his Tetris & rope skipping skills are optical illusion-level and he can tie shoelaces faster than his shadow. If someone can bring about Margaret’s cheese asap, it is this man for sure.

• 

  Veronique ‘Kaleidoscope Kid’ Lingier

  Since forever, our Veronique has had an eye for the unexpected. She surprises friend & foe with her ability to juggle an endless variety of activities in her free time. On the ranch, she turns this creativity into gold: the ultimate taste, texture and quality for Margaret’s cheese.

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  Roland ‘Transylvanian Trailblazer’ Kun

  This Transylvanian nomad keeps the soul alive of our cherished research collab with Leiden Uni. He cheers our Aspergillus work horses into racetrack-level casein winners, eats onions like apples, wears day-of-the-week socks and knows the full lyrics of ‘Dragostea Din Tei’ by heart.

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  Lana ‘Triple Trick’ Trepels

  Apart from being an ace food scientist, our secret weapon in the classified cheese cave’s been killing it from real estate to bartending in previous lives. A true kaleidoscope of skills if we ever saw one, Lana has a golden heart filled with vegan cheese – and dad rock.

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  Annabelle ‘Colorado’ Cassiman

  Yes, this creative big shot got microbes into paintin’ textiles, which graciously circles back to her current magnum opus as our Head of Food Science: the ultimate cow-free cheese. That’s Colorado Cassiman for ya.

   

• 

  ‘Old Steady Hand’ Stijn Morsa

  A hand as precise and steady as Stijn’s is seldom encountered. He effortlessly delves down to the deepest secrets of DNA. He also possesses the strange talent to always shake the exact amount of eppendorf tubes from the bag that is needed.

• 

  Jeroen ‘Punk-Rock Prairie Dog’ Vanhecke

  Jeroen spent the better part of the last decade mastering the mysteries of biochemistry. He hopes to help improve the world, and if making cheese is what it takes, that’s what we call a win-win.

• 

  Tien-Yang ´The Strain Stuntman´ Ma

  After knocking biofuels & biochemicals out of the ballpark fermentation-wise, this stunt cowboy trailed from Taiwan to Technologiepark. His secret? Balancing out the *strains* of working life with just the right combination of basketball, tennis, loud music and gardening.

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  ‘Mad Ranger’ Eline Meert

  Our scientist/cheese girl is famed for her analytical as well as applicational prowess, and her love of coffee as black as the heavy metal she listens to. Outside the lab you can find her gallivanting with her faithful canine companions, Roran and Skadi – shooting sharp with her camera as she goes.

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  ‘El Vaquero Viejo’ Sybe Hartmans

  His many years of experience make him an old-timer when it comes to the intricacies of microbial protein production: the perfect cowboy for his duties in developing and strengthening the protocols behind our fermentation processes. All in great style, of course.

   

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  Roald ‘don’t stop me now’ van Belle

  This man continues where others stop. Roald keeps our ranch clean and organized. Not an easy task with such a rebellious stainless steel cow.

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  Matthias ‘Hard Core’ Spriet

  Fermentation scientist Spriet has been at the lab since before the dawn at Those Vegan Cowboys, which granted him the ability to move about the ranch blindfolded. As the heavy metal fundament of the fermentation team, we hope to treasure Hard Core Spriet at the ranch for a long time a’coming.

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  Niels ‘Friendly Face’ Daelman

  As one of our research associates, Niels busies himself with evaluating the qualities of the product. He’s infamous for his ability to neatly stack his garbage, always filling his bin to the brim.

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  Steven ‘Sing-A-Long’ Geysens

  Our Head of Molecular Biology devotes his time to developing new Microbial strains. His friends know him as a passionate singer, who simply needs to delve into the Country genre a bit more before he’ll draw crowds at the state fair.

• 

  Herman ‘Eagle Eye’ Blockx

  This scientist is a true magician with yeast, but is above all famous for his pinpoint powers of observation. Rumor has it that he can properly estimate the optical density of a yeast culture to 0.1 O.D. with the naked eye.

• 

  ‘Calamity Copy’ Lil

  Brought up on Belgian comics, Ennio Morricone and bad news about livestock farming, creative copywriter Lilianne Laan craves cow-less cheese as hard as the Iron Lady herself. Rallying cries: honesty is a good strategy, never spit on solid alliteration, and if it’s not funny, it’s no fun.

• 

  Hille ‘the Indian’ van der Kaa

  There’s hardly an aspect of our business that our CEO Cowboy ain’t involved in. Living up to her nickname, this ‘Indian’ always lives in the moment and represents the calm in the eye of the storm.

• 

  Luc ‘Lucky Numbers’ Van den Hauwe

  Our financial controller guards the safe with his life. Not a dollar, eagle or gold brick leaves the building without his say-so. Rumor has it that he starts every day by securing the stacks of cash, and that he falls asleep at night counting silver coins instead of sheep…

• 

  ‘Two Faced’ Belinda Hunziker

  As our treasured Chief of Staff, Belinda is the stainless steel backbone that has Those Vegan Cowboys running like a well-oiled machine. Adored by many, feared only by those who met her before that first cup o’ joe. She might seem villainous in the early mornings, but after a refreshing splash in the camp side creek this heroine of the rolling fields greets the sun with a wink and a smile.

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  Niko ‘Stands Tall’ Koffeman

  Niko, founder of Those Vegan Cowboys, uses images and words to work his brand of magic. He mostly works in the cool of the shade, where he burns brighter than the prairie sun on a summer’s high noon. A grand figure behind the scenes.

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  Jaap ‘Eyes On The Horizon’ Korteweg

  Once a famed shooter, our founder now shoots for the stars. Nobody truly knows what thoughts, ideas and mysteries hide behind his smouldering eyes. Gaze towards the horizon, senses flown..?

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  Guillaume ‘L’Imperturbable’ Lerondel

  Our French scientist is a tough cookie to crumble: he was able to watch the first six episodes of Star Wars in a row, with only one trip to the toilet and one food break. Some say he even survived twelve years of working with Belgians!

• 

  Ruben ‘The Iron Ink-slinger’ Jager

  This velvet-tongued vagabond roamed many a wild land in his days, and many await him still. With a voice like honey poured over thunder and lightning-quick wit, his words resound over prairie and paper alike.

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  Robin ‘Yeast-Whisperer‘ Vanluchene

  Known for his ability to rapidly recall dates and faces, this young cowboy (or padawan in a certain coworker’s jargon) is also adept at tweaking the genome of our beloved microbial strains, mostly using the principle: if it’s stupid but it works, it ain’t stupid.“

• 

  ‘Crafty Cowgirl’ Elke Descamps

  Good luck if you want to reach Elke off duty, because she won’t be pickin’ up her phone. Way too busy killin’ it at the potter’s wheel, sewing machine or in the wild wild woods.

• 

  Edward ‘Wicked Cricket’ Krekelbergh

  If proteins are gold (and to us, they are), The Wicked Cricket sifts the gold that is dug up upstream. No protein can keep a secret from this man – one piercing stare and they reveal their stability and all their structural qualities. Loves a good challenge and that’s exactly what separates the cowboys from the ordinary lab folks.

   

• 

   ‘Gal of Mystery’ Maria Vazquez

  Our Fermentation Team will never be the same, for we now have an international woman of mystery among the ranks.
  Before galloping onto the ranch, Maria gathered intel in beer brewing research, before moving on to the serious stuff: vegan cheese.
  Her love of hiking, bouldering and travelling steady her hand, while the occasional down-time puzzle keeps her mind sharp as a tack. As you can imagine, us vegan cowboys couldn’t be happier to have her on the team.

• 

  Lisa ‘Queen of Ostend’ Vanderstraeten

  Residing in the queen of seaside resorts, this molecular biologist knows her way around cloning and science fiction. Her quest for a better world led her to the lab, where she’ll be taming Aspergillus strains to have them magically produce the cheese protein we’re after. Well, magic to us laymen, but certainly not to her. Yeasts have no secrets for this cowgirl.

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  ‘Old Scent’ Franck Fudalej

  Our head of fermentation has got the sharpest nose, and can detect whether the yeast fermentation process in the bioreactor is successful just by smelling the broth. He is known for exhausting his enemies by taking them on a neverending trek.

• 

  ‘Sheriff’ Will van den Tweel

  Our COO/CTO Will leads the lab in an unprecedented fashion. There’s whispers around the lab that he even breaks through walls to achieve his goals. He can also open a bottle of wine with nothing but a syringe, something that makes him loved among many cowboys.

• 

  Maria ‘Colorful Cowgirl’ Tiqwah

  Our graphic designer is trotting around on both the digital trails and paper prairies. With her silver brush, she gives color to the logo and images of Those Vegan Cowboys. She loves drawing golden cheese nuggets and fast horses. Word has it that she is herding 4 cats on her range in the east.