In the 1960s, he was a well-known phenomenon in the Venlo market, selling bananas as The Banana King. But with the arrival of migrant workers with a Muslim background, he saw a gap in the market in another area and in 1993 started Pure Ingredients (formerly Mekkafood), a company in halal snacks. With this, he conquered the Netherlands and surrounding countries. Founder and owner Wout van Eeuwijk is now 77 years young, but has no intention of stopping. Indeed, he will open a third location in Belfeld at the end of this year, aiming to supply halal frozen products to the whole of Europe.
Friendly and good-humoured Wout van Eeuwijk sits at his desk of the new premises in Belfeld. Besides the branches in Venlo (dough processor) and Kaldenkirchen (meat processor), this is Pure Ingredients' third location. A total of about 200 people work there. "We already supply many supermarkets and shops with halal products, both in the Netherlands and in European countries, but this expansion will soon mean additional production," Van Eeuwijk states. "This will allow us to meet increasing demand. Our goal is to further conquer Europe."
'Expansion will soon mean extra production'
Enterprise
Van Eeuwijk's career began in the Venlo market. "After my military service, I had a job where I earned 10 to 12 guilders a week. I easily rushed through that amount on weekends," Van Eeuwijk laughs. To earn extra money, he managed to get a spot on the Venlo market. Characterised by his top hat, he sold bananas; this turned out to be a hit. Not only because it was an exotic and still relatively unknown product for Venlo residents, but also because Van Eeuwijk built a veritable act around it. "Every morning I bought a pack of misprinted daily newspapers for 1 guilder, with which I packed the bananas. Before my working day started, I read through the newspaper. Since not everyone had a newspaper at home, I would make fun of people in response to current affairs without ever really offending anyone. I was a real attraction and very popular. Those were very good times; before I knew it, I was earning 50 guilders in one morning."
Migrant workers
After years on the market, Van Eeuwijk joined Ludwig Aus Venlo on Nolensplein, a supermarket aimed at the German public. During those years, more and more migrants came to the Netherlands, first from southern Europe and then from North Africa. "I came up with the idea of having our own food products that everyone likes and is allowed to eat out of faith," he says. After selling at Ludwig Aus Venlo, Van Eeuwijk developed halal burgers and frikandells made from chicken and beef. "To generate awareness, I invested in 20 cars. For at least a year, I had guys driving daily with samples to Dutch and German supermarkets." Although at first nobody took the bait, he believed in his product and persisted. This proved successful; after one year, the first customer signed up, this number kept increasing and large supermarket chains also signed up. This led to the official establishment of Mekkafood in 1993. "The name has since been changed to our current name Pure Ingredients, with which we want to appeal to a larger target group. Nevertheless, we kept Mekkafood as a brand name and halal snacks are still on the shelves under that name."
Variation
Pure Ingredients has developed several more brands over the years, such as Lekker&Anders (world specialities like Turkish pizza and kebabs) and Herrenhof (Dutch snacks like croquettes, cheese soufflés and bami slices). In total, the company makes 40 different products. "Less fatty and with fewer preservatives than 'normal' variants," the director says. To make these food items popular in the many different countries, each with their own characteristics regarding food, good marketing and product development is important. "Our Dutch chicken frikandells can be found in other countries under a different name. Our same products may also contain slightly different spices in different countries. These ways of marketing are necessary to gain popularity in all the different European countries."
'I treat my employees the way I want them to treat me'
Expand
Van Eeuwijk had long wanted to expand to supply halal products to even more countries in Europe. "Our production capacity was not sufficient, so in 2019 we decided to buy this premises in Belfeld. Due to corona, the opening was slightly delayed, but now the moment has finally arrived," Van Eeuwijk says proudly. With the new location, production capacity increases significantly. "Europe has three-quarters of a billion inhabitants, many of whom are Muslim. We are the company that can help provide those people with halal snack products."
That Van Eeuwijk chose Belfeld as the location for its new branch is not an unconscious choice. "Firstly, it is a beautiful business park here, where many top companies are located. In addition, there are many companies for sale throughout the Netherlands, but I want to establish all my locations close to each other. Should there be a breakdown in one factory or a machine breaks down, we can transport the meat to the other factory without spoiling and losing it. That is different from when the factory is located in Groningen." Van Eeuwijk finds it very pleasant that he can now easily visit all his plants. "That is something I enjoy doing almost every day." Because although he could have retired long ago, the driven Van Eeuwijk still carries on. "I do my 'work' with a lot of love and pleasure and hope to continue doing it for a long time to come. Pure Ingredients is truly a family business. I treat my employees the way I want them to treat me. Some have been working here for almost thirty years. To me, they really feel like family."
