Maaslander switches over to completely vegetarian product range

The entire Maaslander product range goes completely vegetarian from week 9. All these vegetarian cheeses taste just as mild and creamy as before. What’s more, Maaslander has now achieved another milestone, as it is the first player in the cheese category to switch over to fully recyclable cheese-slice packaging, which also contains somewhat less plastic too. With all these initiatives, the naturally yellow Maaslander is showing that ‘yellow’ and ‘green’ are a perfect match.

Consumers are increasingly making a conscious decision to eat more vegetarian food. For example, the number of Dutch people who eat vegetarian food has grown by no less than 150 percent over the past two years. Maaslander is responding to these developments by making its entire product range vegetarian. In these cheeses, the animal rennet has been replaced by microbial rennet, making the entire Maaslander range 100 percent vegetarian.

Less plastic and more cheese in fully recyclable packaging

Maaslander is also making its cheese-slice packaging more sustainable, in part through its thinner plastic film, which means 23% less plastic is now used per kilo of cheese - an annual saving of 9200 kilos of plastic. The new packaging also keeps the cheese just as delicious and fresh as the Maaslander consumer is used to. The new packaging is fully recyclable and can be turned into new products, such as shampoo bottles, vacuum cleaner hoses, flowerpots and roadside poles.

‘Within the dairy industry, which means amongst cheesemakers too, there is an ever-greater focus on sustainability. Maaslander wants to play a pioneering role here. For example, our production chain sets great store by animal welfare and we work hard to keep our impact on the environment to a minimum. In the past few years, we have launched many sustainable initiatives: from making the entire dairy chain more sustainable to making our packaging more environmentally friendly. The launching of our 100 percent vegetarian product range and fully recyclable packagings mean we have achieved a new milestone’, explains Rachel Aalbers, Marketing Manager at Maaslander. ‘In the coming years too, we will continue to come up with ingenious products and solutions. For example, we have set ourselves a long-term goal that by the year 2036, consumers will be enjoying our 100% climate-neutral cheese. This will also help us to stay true to our goal of continuing to be the ‘big cheese’ when it comes to delivering the best possible flavour.’