A conversation from Be Better My Friend. You likely did not get into baking to manage commodity markets. You got in to make great product and build a business that lasts. Which means the ingredient decisions you make today are not just about next month’s
The croissant is one of Europe’s most loved products. The two fats that make it possible, butter and palm margarine, are both under serious pressure. There is a better way to make it. Every morning, millions of croissants, pain au chocolat, pains aux raisins, cinnamon
More than just flour and water The bakery still sells a romantic story. Craft, aroma, community. But behind the counter, the modern bakery has become one of the most complex small and mid-sized businesses in food. It is part manufacturing, part retail, part logistics, part
It is tough to be a food producer today and it’s getting worse. Inside the baked goods industry, a real shift is happening. Not a trend. Not a diet wave. Not another “vegan alternative” story.It is driven by margin pressure, the rise of private labels,
Chocolate is in crisis, but that’s not the story anymore, Chocolate prices didn’t just rise, they detonated. In early 2025, cocoa passed $10,000 per ton. For the first time in history, it became more expensive than copper. Farmers in West Africa battled drought, disease, and
Something is shifting in food. You can feel it.The shelves look the same, but the money is moving. Big names like Nestlé, PepsiCo, Heinz, General Mills, Kraft, the ones who once filled the world with cookies, snacks, and drinks, are changing course. They’re pulling back
You like to think you’re making decisions based on logic: flavour, texture, precision. But the truth is, we’re human first. And all of us humans are biased. When it comes to switching ingredients, say, from dairy butter to a plant-based butter, it’s rarely about performance.
When we started Be Better, the mission sounded impossible: create a plant-based butter alternative that could do everything dairy butter does in pastry. Not just something “good enough for vegans.” Not a margarine. But a true dairy-free butter substitute for pastry. One that would fold
For the past three and a half years, we’ve pitched Be Better’s plant-based butter alternative to chefs across Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and we are starting in North America. There are differences between regions. Outside of Europe, nobody really cares about climate impact.
Butter is at the heart of pastry. But it’s also one of the costliest and most carbon-heavy ingredients in the kitchen. What if there was a way to cut your costs, reduce the carbon emissions, and still bake exactly the way you always have?
The real test of any “plant-based fat” Plenty of products call themselves vegan butter. The promise sounds good until you try to laminate. A shift to a dairy-free butter alternative easily turns into lots of extra labour and lost margin. Three years ago we
We love pastry and we love butter because of it But we also know its cost to the planet, to the animals, to future generations. That’s why Marike and I decided to create Be Better plant-butter. Still, we hear it all the time: “But it’s not
In our latest blog, we like to share you a personal reflection on the rollercoaster journey of Be Better My Friend. Launched at the end of 2021, it has been a thrilling ride filled with excitement, frustration, resilience, and conviction. In this blog, we share
How the bakery landscape is changing Across Europe and beyond, bakeries and pastry chefs are navigating a fast-changing environment. Rising ingredient costs, growing consumer expectations, and sustainability pressures are pushing professionals to rethink not just recipes but as well strategy. In this context, chefs are
Switching from butter (or a butter-margarine blend) to a new fat like Be Better can feel risky, even if the product turns out better and cheaper. Why? Because butter isn’t just an ingredient. For many bakers, it’s part of the brand story But the truth
In bakeries across Europe, the conversation around sustainability and carbon reduction moved to the background. It is this big hairy problem no one really wants to talk about, but it’s becoming unavoidable. Pressures from regulation, supply chain disruptions, volatile input prices, and changing customer expectations
Discover how artisan and semi-industrial bakers can beat supermarkets by switching from margarine to Be Better plant-based butter. Better ingredients lead to stronger brands, higher prices, and loyal customers. Walk into any supermarket today and the pastry aisle looks like it came straight out of
Hi there, I’m Joost, together with Marike van Beurden, we founded Be Better My Friend. It all started end of 2019. Marike van Beurden approached me in my role as global director of Cacao Barry. She asked if I could help fund her pastry book.
Cookies are no longer just treats—they’re growth engines. In today’s baking world, they’ve become one of the smartest ways for artisan and semi-industrial bakeries to build loyalty, boost profits, and speak directly to the next generation of customers. If you’re not using cookies to scale
Plant-butter that performs, proof that convinces In the world of modern pastry, few names carry more influence than Toni Rodríguez. A chef, educator, and pastry innovator, Toni has spent over 2 decades proving that plant-based pastry can meet and exceed the standards of traditional techniques.
Butter is great. Familiar. Trusted. But in many of your recipes, it’s a financial and operational blind spot. If you’re still using dairy butter where its taste doesn’t shine—you’re burning money. And no, we’re not here to bash butter. We’re here to apply common sense.
Picture this: You’re in a grand concert hall. The orchestra is ready, the lights dim. The first note plays… but there’s a constant hum in the background. Not loud, but always there, muddying the clarity. That’s what butter does in pastry. Butter is rich, it’s
Pastry is evolving. Not through loud campaigns or industry mandates, but through quiet, deliberate choices made by chefs in their kitchens: silent veganism. It’s not a movement.
From classic croissants to pistachio-stuffed cruffins, laminated pastries are captivating customers in bakeries worldwide. Perfecting the art of lamination not only unlocks a world of possibilities but also enables chefs to stand out by offering pastries that balance indulgence with modern trends like sustainability and inclusivity.
