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Meelfabrieken B.V.

Koopmans Koninklijke Meelfabrieken and the history of a family company

Uilke Klazes Koopmans becomes an entrepreneur

In 1846 Uilke Klazes Koopmans, then a baker's mate working for his father, takes a daring decision. He wishes to stand on his own feet: possibly because he will soon be marrying Trijntje Jans Bierma. He probably wishes to safeguard his financial future. Who can tell…

Nutritious ingredient for bread and porridge

Uilke Klazes Koopmans' attention is rapidly drawn to a horse mill in the centre of the village of Holwerd. A horse mill, as the name implies, is a mill in which horses walk in circles to drive the millstones that grind the grain. These mills are ideally suited to grinding buckwheat, since the horses walk at a constant pace - which is beneficial to the buckwheat husks.

With a loan of 1,550 hard Dutch guilders from his family he completes the financial arrangements. In the far north of the Province of Friesland young Uilke Klazes Koopmans begins to grind and bag buckwheat. Buckwheat is a nutritious ingredient for bread and porridge - and a source of energy for the (farm) labourers engaged in extremely arduous work.

Buckwheat is rich in vitamins and minerals

Buckwheat is a popular product, there are ample stocks in the Province of Friesland and, moreover, it is rich in vitamins and minerals. The Frisians generally use buckwheat to make groats porridge and pancakes, often as a lunch for the people working on the land - and delicious with syrup or bacon. Consequently, it is hardly surprising that things go very well with Uilke Klazes Koopmans' mill. He reconsiders the opportunities available for his mill. “Obviously, I made excellent meal”, the miller writes in one of his many diaries that have been saved.

 

In 1856 he decides to try grinding wheat with his mill. Unfortunately, he is not successful: the mill is unsuitable. Uilke Klazes Koopmans will need more power if he is going to grind wheat - more than one steam engine can deliver in those days.

Grain from the USA and the Baltic States

Uilke Klazes Koopmans continues to search for opportunities. By now the quantities of buckwheat he wishes to sell are no longer available in the Province of Friesland, so Uilke Klazes Koopmans decides to look elsewhere. However, he encounters a problem. The grain is delivered to Holwerd by vessel, and if he buys larger quantities of buckwheat then the cargo will need to be transferred to smaller vessels - which is not really a practical solution.

 

Uilke Klazes Koopmans examines all the options and then decides to move his company to Leeuwarden. The entrepreneurial miller will now be able to source grain from every region. The Netherlands is too small, so he begins to import grain from the USA and the Baltic States.

The steam-driven flour factory of Hein Bloek Wycherbrandi

In the spring of 1867 it's time to expand, and Uilke Klazes Koopmans buys the steam-driven flour factory of Hein Bloek Wycherbrandi. He thinks that the factory will meet his needs for a long time to come, but rapidly discovers that the plant is obsolescent: the steam engine delivers just 2 HP. Machines have to be replaced much sooner than expected. When Jan Koopmans, Uilke Klazes Koopmans' son, turns fourteen he joins his father's company.

Jan Koopmans takes over the company in 1881. Jan Koopmans' family lives next door. The children regularly play in the factory: there is a lot to see, do, and climb on. Jan Koopmans' sons, Uco, Daan and Jo, literally grow up in the company.

Packs of pancake and mini pancake mix

When the three brothers are older they take over the company from their father, Daan. The new generation brings a new, fresh breeze to the company. The brothers find new markets, including new products for consumers. This results in the development of Koopmans baking products, and the first advertising campaigns and sales representatives make their appearance at Koopmans.

A supermarket without Koopmans products is now inconceivable. As a result, everyone gets familiar with the Koopmans name on the packets of pancake and mini-pancake mix at a very early age. However, this consumer division was divested in 2000 and, consequently, is no longer a member of the Koopmans Koninklijke Meelfabrieken group.