Speakers

Hille van der Kaa is CEO of Those Vegan Cowboys, a food-tech company developing animal-free casein through precision fermentation, enabling real cheese without the cow. The company was founded by Jaap Korteweg, creator of The Vegetarian Butcher, and aims to remove animals from the dairy supply chain while preserving the taste and functionality people love about cheese. 

Hille grew up in a farming family in the Dutch province of Brabant, surrounded by livestock agriculture. Although she was raised in that world, she later began questioning the role animals play in our food system. That personal journey ultimately led her into the emerging field of food innovation. 

Before joining Those Vegan Cowboys, Hille built her career in journalism and media, working as an editor-in-chief. Today she leads the company’s mission to scale precision fermentation and build partnerships across the global dairy industry, helping to pioneer a future where milk proteins can be produced without animals.