Hans Boer, better known in the market as 'Boer Berkel', is approaching retirement age. Nevertheless, the aggregates supplier from Berkel en Rodenrijs has no plans to stop. "We are among the last of the Mohicans. Many competitors have quit. As a result, many horticulturists come to us."
© Izak Heijboer | HortiDaily.com
Whether it's a catering supplier from Bonaire, a green bean grower from Zambia or a tomato grower from Westland, one way or another they often end up at J.F. Boer when they need a generator. Although chicken and pig farmers are also part of his customer base, horticulture still accounts for the largest share at around 70 percent. "We sell a product that growers don't actually want, but when the need arises, they know exactly where to find us. As a company, we now sometimes do business with fourth-generation horticulturists."
"The busiest period is traditionally just before Christmas. Then all the employees have gone home from the greenhouse, and it's a good time for the growers to test the generator. And that's when they discover it doesn't work. So then we get to work," says Hans. He no longer takes part in trade fairs. Most horticulturists already know where to find him anyway. If not from memory, then from the plate on an old generator. "We used to go to the farmers to sell our generators to the market gardeners, but these days almost everything is handled by e-mail."
© Izak Heijboer | HortiDaily.com
And today, calls have to be made faster than in the past. "The old-fashioned gas oil could keep for about four years, but with today's bio-oil, it's a disaster," Hans sighs. Although diesel engines are becoming increasingly electric, he does not expect demand for gensets to decline. "The world is bigger than the Netherlands. In Africa, they throw in motor oil, frying oil and gas oil all at once."
The company is still located where his grandfather first opened the doors of his stove forge: on the Rodenrijseweg in Berkel en Rodenrijs. Aggregates will continue to be sold by Boer, as long as his health allows. However, he is looking for a company that will eventually take over his second activity: selling trailers. "Eighty percent of our customers are in the Westland these days, because there's nobody else left there. Plenty of customers, but I can't keep doing everything myself, and I still enjoy working with aggregates!"
© Izak Heijboer | HortiDaily.com
For more information
Hans Boer
J.F. Boer Aanhangwagens en Stroomaggregaten
Rodenrijseweg 39
2651 BM Berkel en Rodenrijs
Tel: +31 10 511 38 12
[email protected]
www.boerberkel.nl
