Stefan van den Hanenberg has been shaping Europe’s meat alternative movement since the early days. As former owner and director of Dalco Food (NL), he helped put plant-based proteins on the map long before it was mainstream. After Dalco Food was acquired by Hilton Foods (UK), Stefan continued driving innovation as Senior Director of “New Foods” at GEA, where he spent two years accelerating next-generation protein technologies. Today, he remains closely involved in the sector as a shareholder of Van Koolen, a leading Dutch producer of vegetarian and vegan products.

In 2024, Stefan co-founded De Bonenboet, focused on producing sustainable raw materials for the meat alternative and hybrid market through a simple—yet patented—process. Most recently, he established the Dutch Fiber Collective to bring this innovation to market and make it accessible to players across the industry. As Stefan puts it, their unique but straightforward approach enables producers to eliminate supply chain complexity and produce sustainable raw materials right at the source.