The closure of the Hessing vegetable cutting plant is causing major problems for the North Holland food banks. Hessing is the main supplier for fresh vegetables and meal boxes. It will not be easy for the food banks to find a new supplier.
Hessing announced this week that the location in Zwaagdijk-Oost will be closed, resulting in the dismissal of hundreds of employees. But the company is not only an important employer in the region, the cutting company is also the largest supplier of fresh vegetables and meal boxes to food banks in the province.
This is now changing with the move to Venlo. And that, according to Hans de Bats of the Haarlemmermeer food bank, is ‘a big loss’. Every week he receives enough cut vegetables to provide 400 families with their vitamins. “It concerns all kinds of vegetable packages, such as spaghetti vegetables. And they are really good products.”
Now that Hessing has quit, the chairmen of the food banks have to look hard for new donors. “And that will be quite a task,” says De Bats. “You have to find a lot of small donors to cover the loss that such a large company like Hessing leaves behind.”
There is also great stress in the IJmond, where about 40 percent of Hessing’s products still come. Yvonne Molenaar had to hear the news in the newspaper yesterday. “I thought: what now?”
200 crates
The closure of the West Frisian cutting plant shows how vulnerable the food banks are. If such a large and stable donor stops, it is difficult for food banks to absorb that loss.
They also know this at the Kop van Noord food bank in Anna Paulowna. Every week, Koos Oltmans receives 200 crates of freshly cut vegetables from Hessing, enough for about 140 households. “Customers receive ten types of vegetables every week, but that will end in June. It’s a shame.”
Food banks receive a large part of their supplies from the regional distribution center in Amsterdam. They have to arrange the rest themselves by, for example, approaching suppliers, entrepreneurs or private individuals. If that proves to be insufficient, they can also choose to buy extra food from the wholesaler.
In Haarlemmermeer, De Bats receives approximately a third of the regional distribution center, the rest is donated from Haarlemmermeer. Finding new donors may be the hardest part of this work, he says. “You really have to be proactive in your search. Approach people yourself and always answer your phone.”
Moreover, what food banks receive also differs per region. “We have enough potatoes in this region, but we have to look for broccoli and tomatoes.”
To trust
In the near future, the food banks will jointly look for a solution. Tomorrow the chairmen of the food banks will sit down together. Molenaar thinks things will work out: “Companies want to do good, so I am confident that another company will emerge.”
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