Cono Kaasmakers creates more value from cream streams

Cono Kaasmakers and butter specialist Van de Koe have joined forces. The international cheese company plans to create added value from its cream streams. For Cono, this is an important step in strengthening its position within the dairy category. “With Van de Koe, we are bringing quality into the business.”

Cono Kaasmakers, known for its Beemster® cheese brand, is taking another notable step in the butter category. In 2025, Jacques’ Kruidenboter from Den Helder was already added to the portfolio. Now, the cooperative is also acquiring Dutch butter company Van de Koe, a premium brand that has already established a presence with companies including Picnic, Bidfood, Stach and Zuivelhoeve. The acquisition strengthens Cono’s position in the premium butter segment. 

Strong butter brand fits well with Cono Kaasmakers

Van de Koe founder Roel Kramer agrees. “Our butter is made by fermenting the milk for 20 hours, just as it used to be done. The milk is then churned, separating the fat from the liquid. This creates a fuller flavour, similar to what you often find in French butters,” he explains. This level of quality is made possible through close cooperation with the affiliated dairy farmers, who manage their livestock in a distinctive way. By joining Cono, Roel sees opportunities to scale up further with the brand he is proud of.

Strong focus on the environment and animal welfare

Cono is proud too. “It is well known that we are good at making cheese,” says Nicole van Gorp, Managing Director Marketing & Communication at Cono. The cooperative recently received international recognition with an award for the best cheese in the world. Beemster Royaal Grand Cru was selected from almost 3,400 cheeses from 25 countries at the World Championship Cheese Contest in Wisconsin. “We are also continuing to build a strong and distinctive butter portfolio, with considerable attention to the environment, animal welfare, climate and biodiversity. These are core values that are also very important to Roel. That is why we are a good fit.” Concern for the environment was one of Roel’s main reasons for starting Van de Koe in the first place. When he began looking more closely at the Dutch dairy landscape, he found that biodiversity in the meadows was in poor condition. The disappearance of herbs, flowers and insects concerns him deeply. He therefore considers it important that dairy production goes hand in hand with care for nature.

Nicole van Gorp and Roel Kramer

Caring Dairy

This vision is fully aligned with Cono’s Caring Dairy, a sustainability programme for dairy farming aimed at making the entire chain more sustainable, from cow to cheese. Within the programme, farmers can improve their performance across four themes – animal welfare, climate, biodiversity, and people & society – with eighteen different indicators underneath them. Nicole: “Last year, together with our dairy farmers, we reassessed the programme and introduced Caring Dairy 2.0. Farmers receive an additional premium, the amount of which depends on their results. We work with different levels, which means you do not have to make very large investments straight away. Smaller measures can already make you eligible for a premium. And if you perform even better, you can earn an additional amount as a dairy farmer.” Current nitrogen policy is affecting dairy farmers and creating some uncertainty, including for Cono and Van de Koe. “We hope the authorities continue to engage properly with dairy farmers. They want to move forward, but with realistic rules, fair consultation and plans that are workable in practice,” says Nicole.

Culinary butters

Roel agrees with that last point. For his culinary butters, he depends on farmers who practise nature management and pay close attention to soil life, insects, meadow birds and cows grazing outdoors in herb- and flower-rich meadows. This results in high-quality butter. Through extensive cooking sessions in the kitchen, he has built up a premium butter range, including black garlic butter, wild garlic butter and truffle butter. “I have always felt that there is more potential in the brand. Scaling up is one way to achieve that,” he explains. “But how do you make that happen? I considered approaching an investor, working with a business partner, or hiring more people,” Roel says, giving some insight into his thought process. In the end, things took a different turn. He met Cono director Jerry Griep. “We stayed in touch and talked about both of our brands. One thing led to another.”

For customers and suppliers, nothing will change in the short term. Existing agreements and deliveries will remain unchanged. After only a few months, Roel has already noticed that there are more opportunities to raise the profile of the brand and give quality a further boost, as Cono has a strong marketing team and quality team.

www.cono.nl

Photos ©Cono Kaasmakers