Those Vegan Cowboys, a Belgian start-up specialising in precision fermented dairy, has celebrated record-breaking progress since launching its crowdfunding campaign last week.

Casein is responsible for many of the characteristics that consumers love about cheese. Could animal-free variants of this dairy protein help plant-based cheese producers to meet higher taste and texture standards?

Dairy giant Hochland has teamed up with Those Vegan Cowboys, to test the start-up’s cow-free casein in semi-hard and hard cheeses.