Willem Koopman (59) runs a successful peanut and care farm. A unique combination that appears to work well for both the peanut business and the people in need of care. On his farm he has created an environment where there is room for everyone. In our program ‘NH Warriors’ he told how he managed to do that.
An article in the newspaper was the starting signal for Willem’s interest in peanuts. He read about a peanut surplus in the United States, which was ground up out of necessity and peanut butter was created. That’s simple, Willem thought at the time. “Why couldn’t I do that too?”
What he couldn’t predict then is that his ‘peanut farm’ will grow into a place where dozens of people in need of care will find their place in society.
Broken stick blender
After reading the article, Willem started experimenting with a bag of peanuts, right in the kitchen. A few bags and a broken hand blender later, the Venhuizer managed to make his own peanut butter. Just from peanuts without added stuff.
“I immediately liked it very much,” Willem tells NH News. That immediately tasted like more. At the beginning of 2013 he started doing business: arranging a stall, having labels made and selling pots. “Then it happened very quickly,” he recalls. “Within a year we were selling about a hundred pots a week.”
“I hope that they will then understand healthcare: that’s how it can be”
This only fueled the ambition even more. Together with his wife Kathalijne, she developed new flavors and started to expand. Cathelijne had just stopped working in healthcare. “It became too heavy,” Willem explains. “And she did not agree with the way the care was provided.”
The care farm
In order to expand their peanut butter business, the couple bought a farm in Venhuizen in 2016. “When we had that farm, we immediately thought: we can do more with this.”
Willem’s entrepreneurship combined with Kathalijne’s care past gives them the idea to start a care farm. “Then we can do more than just make peanut butter,” Willem explains. “In this way we can really mean something to the people around us.” It turns out to be a bull’s-eye.
There is a small sense of irritation when Willem talks about the way in which the Netherlands treats people in need of care. According to him, they are too quickly placed outside society. But on the farm they ‘just’ run along. From shop assistant to peanut masher, they all work together to fill the jars.
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Today about twelve people work on the ‘peanut butter farm’. People with autism, dementia, an intellectual disability, there is a place for everyone. “They are not limited at all,” emphasizes Willem. “They can and want to do a lot.”
Pride
When Willem walks through his farm and watches how everyone contributes diligently and his wife has regained the energy and passion for care, he sometimes thinks: ‘what if I had never read that article?’
“Then I’m pretty proud of what we’ve put up here,” he reluctantly admits. But he does not have much time for reflection, his gaze remains focused on the future. “We want to develop even more products and accommodate even more people.”
All this with the hope that his company will stand out within the healthcare sector. “I hope that they will then understand healthcare: that’s how it can be done.” Because at Willem and Kathalijne no one is written off, there is room for everyone.
Read also
In the Warriors program, inspiring North Hollanders tell their story. They each try to make the world a little more beautiful in their own way.
Warriors will be broadcast on the TV channel of NH Nieuws and via our website. The stories can also be listened to as a podcast. Subscribe to it via your favorite podcast channel. Here you will find an overview of all Warriors.