Those Vegan Cowboys Leads €1.2M Project on Cow-Free Casein for Sports Nutrition
Dutch precision fermentation startup Those Vegan Cowboys has been awarded a €1.2M subsidy to lead a consortium developing sports nutrition products from its animal-free casein.
The project will study the nutritional and functional properties of recombinant caseins, which are made by microbes programmed with specific DNA, and turn the findings into prototypes.
Running product development alongside regulatory review could shorten the route to market in Europe, where precision-fermented casein needs novel food approval.
Those Vegan Cowboys, a Dutch precision fermentation startup, will lead a project to develop sports nutrition products using its animal-free casein protein. Partners are Interfood, HAS Green Academy and XXL Nutrition. According to a Green Queen report, the project runs until the end of March 2028 and is funded through the OpZuid programme by the European Regional Development Fund, the Dutch national government and the province of North Brabant.
Funding and Consortium Structure
The total project budget is €2.58M, of which more than €1.2M is public funding, led by CEO Hille van der Kaa. The partners cover the remainder through their own investment, including R&D capacity, personnel and development work.
Each partner has a defined role. Those Vegan Cowboys develops and produces the caseins. Interfood contributes knowledge of dairy proteins, ingredients and applications. HAS Green Academy provides research and product development expertise, and XXL Nutrition brings sports nutrition expertise, consumer knowledge and a route to products. The project is also meant to strengthen collaboration between companies, researchers and students in North Brabant, with a proving ground at Interfood.
Why Casein, and Why Several Caseins
Precision fermentation involves inserting specific DNA into microbes so that they produce a desired molecule during fermentation, without involving an animal. The technique is already widely used in the dairy industry to make rennet for cheese. Those Vegan Cowboys uses it to make recombinant caseins from cows, sheep, goats, buffaloes, llamas and other mammals, at laboratory scale.
Van der Kaa said casein's complete protein profile, slow digestion and sustained release of amino acids make it of interest for muscle recovery over a longer period than the hours immediately after exercise. She named strength and resistance athletes as the most relevant group. These are the company's working hypotheses, not findings; the project is designed to investigate them.
The startup also wants to examine individual caseins, combinations and caseins from different species, to see whether any offer additional nutritional or functional benefits for specific athletes or applications. Possible formats include high-protein drinks, shakes, powders and bars. Van der Kaa described exploration as an important part of the work. The project follows Margaret's Finest, a collaborative discovery programme the company set up in July to test its ingredients in applications beyond cheese.
Regulatory Pathway and Market Position
Those Vegan Cowboys has self-affirmed its alpha-S1 casein as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) in the US and expects a "no questions" letter from the Food and Drug Administration later this year. It works with more than 10 food companies, including dairy firms Westland Kaas and Hochland, on cheese and milk chocolate products. Its earlier funding included a recent €12.25M ($14.2M) raise from equity and crowd investors, according to the report.
In Europe, precision-fermented casein requires novel food approval, which takes longer. Van der Kaa said the project lets the team research the proteins and validate applications while that process continues. She added that the exact regulatory timeline is not entirely in the company's hands.
The company has indicated it intends to file in Singapore and the UK as well as the EU. EU approval could automatically allow sales in the UK under a newly signed Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement. Elsewhere in the sector, Nutropy is also developing animal-free casein.
Open Questions
The potential benefits of these caseins for muscle recovery rest on the company's reasoning about casein's properties, and whether recombinant or cross-species caseins offer any advantage is what the project aims to find out. Consumer acceptance of protein-boosted sports products will also be assessed rather than assumed. The US and European approval outcomes, and their timing, will shape whether any resulting products reach shelves.
