About Be Better My Friend. Pioneering plant-based butter for pastry
Our Story: Plant-Based butter from the pastry kitchen
Be Better My Friend began its journey in a professional pastry kitchen, born from the idea that pastry deserves better ingredients and tools. Chef Marike and brand specialist Joost joined forces to create a clean, plant-based butter alternative after realizing no existing vegan butter met the exacting demands of pastry. Over two years of rigorous R&D alongside artisans in real kitchens produced a formula that works like traditional butter in every type of pastry application, from cookie doughs to creams. Through this process, we crafted a plant-based fat that behaves just like dairy butter. Today, Be Better My Friend is 100% dedicated to the art and science of professional baking and pastry.
- Chef-founded: Inspired by pastry chefs’ own experiences and challenges
- Pastry-focused R&D: Two years of development and testing in real bakeries and labs
- Professional dedication: Designed exclusively for professional artisan chefs and industrial baked goods and pastry productions
Value-Driven Launch: We launched in late 2021 amid a turbulent market but stayed steady. Instead of hype, we focused on delivering consistent quality and real value to chefs
Our mission & values: A sustainable butter substitute for bakers and pastry chefs
Our mission is to empower bakers and pastry chefs with better-performing ingredients, because pastry deserves excellence. We believe in performance, progress and pride in craftsmanship. Performance means delivering texture and quality on par with butter. Progress means innovations that reduce costs, allergens, and environmental impact. We value the chef’s craft above trends. Plant-based ingredients are not a passing fad, but a common-sense tool to future-proof pastry, improve consistency and affordability and to simplify operations.
- Performance first: Matching butter’s workability in croissants, puff pastry, tart shells, creams and more
- Innovation & progress: Prioritizing sustainable, clean ingredients (no palm, allergens or hidden additives) for healthier and pure pastry
- Chef-centric: Developed by pastry chefs, for pastry chefs. Preserving classic techniques while inspiring innovation
- Integrity over hype: Emphasizing consistency, quality and ROI
Our Product: Non-dairy butter alternatives for croissants, puff pastry & baking
Be Better My Friend is a high-performance, 100% plant-based butter alternative formulated specifically for professional baking. Whether you’re making flaky croissants, delicate puff pastry, rich creams or bulk bakery goods, our product delivers the same creaminess and rise as dairy butter. It’s a true vegan butter alternative for baking professionals: use it 1:1 in your recipes and get the same process and results, plus added benefits.
- Clean & plant-based: Made from pure plant fats (shea, coconut, sunflower, rapeseed) with no dairy, lactose or common allergens
- Allergen-free & GMO-free: Free from milk, palm oil, hydrogenated fats, artificial flavors or colours to make pastry everybody can love; ideal for vegan, allergy-sensitive and health-conscious recipes
- Creative freedom: Neutral in taste and texture. Not the star of the show but a reliable carrier that lets core flavours shine
- Sustainable & future-ready: 81% lower carbon footprint and 70% less water use than dairy butter, complying with strict EU deforestation (EUDR) regulations and high-quality standards (IFS, Halal, Kosher)
- Cost & quality efficiency: A stable price below dairy butter cost savings, long shelf life and multiple formats (blocks, sheets) for artisan and industrial use
- Consistent supply: Produced at scale by trusted EU partners, with capacity to grow and meet industrial demand without compromising quality
- Not anti-butter: We respect traditional butter; Be Better is simply the smarter choice when you need an allergen-free, sustainable and cost-effective alternative or when to highlight the core ingredient like chocolate, fruits and spices.
Our vision: cleaner, scalable fats for sustainable pastry
We envision a future where dairy and plant-based fats coexist seamlessly in every pastry kitchen. Our goal is to give chefs and producers a practical alternative to butter that solves real kitchen challenges: tighter margins, allergen concerns, flavour consistency and new sustainability regulations. By providing a cleaner, simpler fat made without palm oil or hidden additives, we enable a “one pastry for all” approach. One recipe that satisfies all diets and values. Be Better My Friend champions pastry everyone can enjoy, without compromise.
Through collaboration with chefs and continual R&D, we aim to be the trusted plant-pastry authority, crafting a better future for baking.
Our Team
Be Better My Friend was born out of a conversation between world-class pastry chef Marike van Beurden and seasoned brand strategist Joost Lindeman. In late 2019 Marike (then a pastry chef and chocolatier) approached Joost (global director at premium cocoa brand Cacao Barry) with an idea to create a plant-based alternative for pastry professionals. Together they realized that no vegan butter on the market worked like dairy butter for baking, so they spent 18 months developing their own, literally testing and refining the recipe in real pastry kitchens until it rolls, whips, laminates, and bakes like cow-butter”. Joining them as strategic investor and partner end of 2025 is Jelte Kornelis, who adds business acumen and resources to the team.
- Hands-on innovation: We value practical, kitchen-tested solutions. The BBMF team develops products side-by-side with chefs in real bakeries, not just in a lab.
- Craftsmanship & purity: We respect the art of pastry. By focusing on simple, high-quality ingredients, our butter alternative enhances (not masks) natural flavors in croissants, cakes and viennoiseries.
- Lean, people-first culture: We run a small, agile team that does a lot with little. Limited resources keep us focused on what matters, and we center our company around human experiences, celebrating creativity and progress while respecting traditions.
