Our city is sometimes called a butter village or town. Where does that name come from? We wondered that too. And guess what? Zoetermeer has a huge history of margarine, butter farmers and a real butter factory. We solved this mystery for you: Why is Zoetermeer called a butter village?
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The landscape around Zoetermeer changed from peat to meadows with grazing cows. These cows provided trade in our city with their milk. At the end of the 19th century, more and more butter farmers arrived. 50 kilo barrels were filled with butter and the traders wrapped their own wrapper around it so that packets of butter were sold. Butter farmers went to the front doors with their packs of butter, on foot and in horse and cart. Zoetermeers also called the butter ‘Zoetermeer’s clod’.
Margarine
The expensive butter was replaced by the cheaper margarine. Although the original raw material of margarine was beef fat, this was gradually replaced by vegetable raw materials: soy, palm, sunflower, coconut and groundnut oil. A well-known brand of margarine at the time was called ‘Zoetermeer’s Roem’.
Brinkers
A well-known and large margarine factory in Zoetermeer was Brinkers. In 1927 it was the largest margarine wholesaler in the Netherlands! In our city, several locations have been used by Brinkers as a margarine factory, such as the Vlamingstraat, the Dorpsstraat and the Bleiswijkseweg (1966). In 1986, the Zoetermeer company disappeared from the city due to a takeover. Unfortunately, a Zoetermeer company came to an end.
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Butter farmers
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In addition to Brinkers, there were many butter farmers in Zoetermeer. Well-known names were Van der Tang, Gebroeders Jansen, Van der Goes, Gerrit Roos, Verheul and Van Puffelen. The farmers sold their goods not only in Zoetermeer but also in the surrounding cities, such as The Hague and Voorburg. They visited these places on foot to earn their money. In addition to butter, they also sold jam, eggs, cheese and chickens.
