SIAL 2024: Elevating traditional Dutch dairy with high protein
24 Oct 2024 | Vepo Cheese
Dutch dairy company Vepo Cheese presented its latest innovation at the SIAL tradeshow in Paris. Cheez’up high protein cheese is made with 100% natural ingredients and is packed with 30 g of protein per 100 g serving. With minimal fat and no carbs, Cheez’up offers a solution for health-conscious consumers. Willem Martínez, sales manager, tells us more.
This is Elizabeth Green reporting for Food Ingredients first.
I'm here at CL Paris 2024.
I'm with Willem Martinez, who is the sales manager at Vepo Cheese.
Now Vepo Cheese are a Dutch company providing cheese.
The company recently rolled out a high protein cheese.
Correct.
So Willem, what can you tell us about your launch and your exhibition, your, the products that you're exhibiting here at Cal?
Yeah, you know, I, I, I could not tell any other sales manager basically in this trend that we've put in a lot of requests regarding high protein cheeses, and together with our marketing team we were able to develop a very good mix of what we would want to bring to the market that sort of brings out the values of apple cheese.
So that's why we came up with the brand Cheese Up.
This Cheese Up is not only.
Something that came out of the trend itself because there's a lot of trend happening in the market, but we see that it's very important to keep our values as in taste and also bringing quality to the table.
So we have a product that not only has the 30 g of protein per 100 g of cheese, but it has a level of fat.
And also 1.5 salt that brings it really gives a good culture to the taste of the cheese as and also still attending the trend of the high protein trend that we've seen in the market.
Let's talk a bit more about that because protein is obviously something that consumers are demanding a lot more of.
What do you think is driving this whole demand for high protein, specifically in cheese products?
Personally, I do think that people want to be more aware of what they are eating.
We do see that people want to not only be aware of what they are eating, but also feel good about what they are eating.
I think we really reached a sort of moment in the markets that companies should be a little bit more transparent about what they are selling and people want to know what they are also eating.
It does feed up to.
To that, so that's really what I think is where we're going with this, and it must be quite a competitive space then because I know there are a lot of other cheese companies and companies out there that are of European origin that are sort of ramping up the stakes in the high protein.
Cheese sector or dairy sector.
Why is it important to you to keep those Dutch values and authenticity with your products?
The answer is very simple, at least for us at Vel Cheese, because Vel Cheese is a family company.
It's already the 3rd generation that has been managing the company, and for us it's very important, at least as sales managers, to sort of project that we do have to.
We do like to have a very intimate relation with our customers to really feed their needs also, not only at the commercial level and at the service level, but also trying to understand global trends and translating that into solutions that they can use for their own customers.
So in that regard, that's how I feel we represent the cheese.
Fantastic.
And you're also kind of tapping into the snacking cheese trend as , aren't you?
What can you tell us about that?
This special cheese we designed for this trends obviously can be used in different sources like how we use cheeses.
We cut, we slice, and we dice, but we do notice that people are on the go.
People are always on the move.
Not everyone can just prepare a sandwich and get the right amount of slices.
Not everyone can use a shredded cheese and by having your snack size moments, you at least have a.
A good manageable of the data of the amount of proteins that you're taking on the daily intake.
Maybe you don't have enough and you think, OK, I've got to have a little bit more.
Maybe you just have one on the go.
You can always keep it with you and you always at least have that feeling that.
That you are working on yourself, that you are bringing value to your own life.
I think that's sort of what is going on right now, the trend.
OK, brilliant.
And then finally then, it's obviously important for you to use Dutch derived ingredients and sort of tap into the sustainability of that.
Maybe you can share some more insights on that sort of ethos for you as a company.
Definitely, the cheese has been really.
Doing its best to move forward along parallel to all the changes in the environment and sustainability processes going in the whole European Commission, and we really have a very big project going into sustainability and moving ahead in that.
We work with sustainable growers that have sustainable procedures and producing as.
We really try to abide and also bring added value into the whole process as , because not only due to responsibility to the environment.
But it's a trend.
All of our clients also need a necessity.
We notice that they also need a helping hand or a guiding hand in some procedures, and by having clarity internally, we try to also help, or at least have a helping hand so that they can also implement their sustainability procedures.
So at least we try our best as sales managers to keep that.
Thank you very much.
It was great to meet you.
