YOU DON’T NEED AMIMAL-DERIVED INGREDIENTS TO MAKE PASTRY.

We all love pastry. But the fundamentals of pastry have not changed since the Middle Ages: water, flour, a bit of salt and lots of butter, creams and eggs. The world however has. Our foodsystem is broke. A third of people is obese, a third of people have lack of food. Food accounts for 1/3 of global emissions, cattle being by far the biggest contributor. 75% of our habitable land on our planet is used for agriculture. Of this 75%, the far majority is used for cows. To have them graze to give us milk or meat, or to grow the soy and corn to feed them. Cattle is the main reason for deforestation and the loss of biodiversity

Only in Europe every year, 2 million tons of butter is being produced. It takes 20 litres of milk to produce 1 kg of butter.

Bruce Lee once said, ‘Be Water My Friend’. If the world changes, you have to adapt, like water. We need stop using butter and creams in pastry. This became the core of the food start-up I started mid 2021. Together with Marike van Beurden we launched Be Better My Friend.

Our original idea end of 2019 was to create a vegan pastry book that would challenge, guide and motivate professionals to make the transition to plant-based pastry. It soon led to the conclusion that existing alternatives to butter and creams were not up to scratch. So, rather than stop, we decided to create our own plant-based ingredients for pastry. Designed by and for bakers and pastry professionals, we launched Be Better plant-butter end of 2021. 

Be Better plant-butter is the next generation of butter. It behaves like butter, but is 100% made of plants and allows chefs to create pastry that inclusive, free from allergy and free from guilt. With zero compromise on taste, quality, workability and price.

After years of creating, building and transforming brands and after almost three years being an entrepreneur, I want to journal my reflections how everything changes when you decide to become an entrepreneur. You might find this interesting. You might relate to it, or perhaps have a completely different experience. Tell me.