Dutch plant-based dairy producer De Nieuwe Melkboer (DNMB) has received the first Plant Based Leadership Award from Compassion in World Farming (CIWF). The award was presented today at the charity’s Farm Animal Welfare Awards ceremony in Brussels.
The family-owned company, led by brothers Tom and Bart Grobben, was recognised for converting a dairy operation into a producer of plant-based dairy alternatives. DNMB makes its products from soy grown on its own land and bought from local farmers. According to CIWF, the company has converted former cow barns into a facility for producing plant-based yogurt. CIWF said the business shows how farmers can respond to rising demand for plant-based foods and to the need to reduce reliance on animal-sourced foods.
De Nieuwe Melkboer started on the Grobben family’s dairy farm in Enschede, the Netherlands, which supplied milk to the FrieslandCampina cooperative. In 2022, FrieslandCampina formed a partnership with DNMB to develop a local supply chain for plant-based dairy alternatives. In February 2025, Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo launched three plant-based yogurts made by DNMB from Dutch-grown soy under its Direct van de Boerderij label. That deal was arranged through Plant Protein Forward, a programme run by Foodvalley, Rabobank and several Dutch provinces.
44 winners as Brussels prepares cage rules
DNMB was one of 44 award recipients this year, 19 of them in China. Most awards went to producers, retailers and hospitality groups for welfare commitments in animal agriculture, including cage-free housing for laying hens, sows and rabbits. CIWF says the programme, launched in 2007, has helped drive changes set to affect more than 1.6 billion animals each year.
Dr Tracey Jones, Global Director for Food Business at Compassion in World Farming, stated, “Many of this year’s recipients are leading the transition to cage-free, at a time when around 300 million animals across Europe are still confined in cages. As we await proposals from the European Commission, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to finally consign cages to the history books. The progress being made by businesses in Europe and around the world shows that change is not only possible but already happening. Now we need legislation that matches their ambition and delivers a cage-free future for all animals.”
