“The protein transition is more of a means than an end.”

Hai (Hutten Albron Impactmakers) works closely with Van Loon Foodservice. Within Hai, Caspar van Thiel is responsible for sustainability and impact. Hai is steward-owned; that is to say, it is owned by a foundation. The foundation’s main objective? To make a social impact, both in social and sustainability terms!

Caspar van Thiel: “We want to be sustainable and demonstrate that. Not just tell the good story, but make the impact measurable and visible—for our customers too. That’s why we ensure our evidence and reporting are in order. 

"The protein transition is a key pillar for us, because we want to stay within planetary boundaries. Our other pillars are ‘sourcing differently’ (procurement), reducing waste and using less packaging. In this context, ‘waste versus packaging’ is always a trade-off: with low volumes, extra packaging can actually prevent waste. Our goal is CO₂ reduction; so for us, the protein transition is more of a means than an end. As a caterer, you can exert a lot of influence with a range that is, above all, very tasty—and happens to be sustainable and plant-based. We excel at providing insights: which products have the greatest impact and what are the benefits of making a change? We demonstrate this clearly in our Impact Monitor (dashboard).”

“We work with targets at division and client level: where do we want to grow? We then translate that into recipe and product range adjustments. And we track all the results of these adjustments in our Impact Monitor. Every day, we strive to reduce CO₂ emissions in our foodservice concepts by actively contributing to the protein transition (plant-based options often have a lower impact), preventing food waste, sourcing differently (suppliers with a demonstrably lower CO₂ footprint) and making sensible choices in packaging—but to be honest, this is certainly complex within the meat supply chain. Together with Van Loon Foodservice, we are working on the protein transition and hybrid solutions, preferably for high-volume products, and most importantly... with great taste. In addition to hybrid products, we are very enthusiastic about sustainable animal-based options: supply chain concepts such as ZON Varken—if you consume animal products, do it right,” says Caspar. 

Caspar: “We’re seeing that hybrid dairy is really making a difference. And for our clients in the care sector, we’ve introduced a hybrid product (algae and field beans grown in the Netherlands) with a complete amino acid profile that’s crucial for their clients’ recovery. Furthermore, De Verspillingsfabriek and the Zorgbakkerij now produce for both Albron and Hutten. And we are rightly proud of that!” 

Caspar: “The customer largely decides, but we do, of course, steer the process: we’re removing some products from the range and replacing them with alternatives (such as the hybrid burgers from Van Loon FoodService), and we’re now looking at the meatball. In recipes, we’re increasing the proportion of vegetables – partly for health reasons – and reducing the proportion of animal-based ingredients.”

At Hai, we focus on hotspots—high-volume products that can be replaced. Sometimes there’s a market offering, sometimes we develop our own. Hybrid is a recognisable interim solution and helps, but that alone won’t do the trick: as a society, we need to consume less meat.” 

Caspar: “Acceptance among guests is the biggest challenge—our customers often want things quickly; it’s up to us to translate that into an attractive range. Data on this issue is still incomplete. The biggest opportunities lie in high-volume products and in making the impact measurable, for example on a quarterly basis. Protein is, after all, a mandatory nutritional value; the breakdown between animal and plant-based protein is not. With fully animal-based or fully plant-based products, this is clear, but with hybrid products, it requires an analysis of the ingredients for each product. It would be great if this were also sent via our ‘data highways’ as standard. End users, incidentally, respond mainly positively to hybrid products—provided the taste is right, of course. We are therefore opting very selectively for a quiet protein transition. We strongly believe in transparency, but it varies per product and customer. If you make too much of a fuss about it, a product can also become less appealing. Food and drink are still about emotion, aren’t they.”

Caspar: “Our ambition is to achieve a higher proportion of plant-based ingredients—towards 60% by 2030; we are currently working on making that target a reality. Furthermore, we want to systematically make primary supply chain data (CO₂ footprint) accessible, so that the steps our suppliers are taking are also visible in customers’ impact reports. And food waste remains, of course, our top priority.” 

Caspar: “Start by identifying the hotspots: where is the greatest impact? With small adjustments, you can have a big impact at these hotspots. But take it step by step. And ensure that sustainable actions are measurable; the days of just telling a good story are over.”