In 1981, ’t Vitamientje started as a small shop in the heart of Hasselt, Belgium. Slowly but steadily the number of catering customers increased so much that supplying them from the shop in the centre became impossible. Nowadays, ’t Vitamientje has three branches in Hasselt, two of which are small shops in the city, and one a wholesaler in greater Hasselt. Hendrik Bollen, business and operational manager of the wholesaler, says focus has been on quality since day one. “In all three of our shops we are known to find the best products for our customers.”
Hendrik Bollen in front of his recently renewed logo and one of his new vans.
Hardly any waste
In the 1980s, Bollen’s mother started a first shop on the Havermarkt. In the 1990s, a second branch, ’t Spruitje, was opened on the Molenpoort. In 2004 Bollen entered into the business after studying to be a commercial engineer, and the catering branch experienced an enormous increase within the family business. “A large advantage is that we can supply everything fresh because we supply to multiple target audiences, and we can therefore manage to maintain a high rotation of our products. We purchase fresh daily, directly from cultivators. Besides, we have hardly any waste, because we also offer an entire range of processed products, such as salads, soups and meals, in our smaller shops. The advantage of our family business is our flexibility, and the scale on which we work also ensures that we can purchase cheaper. We can therefore offer high quality at competitive prices.”
’t Vitamientje presents various well-known brands and also sells many homemade products, such as meals, soups and salads.
Cultivators
Bollen says that they buy several products directly from producers. “For example, we get our mushrooms fresh daily, and we also buy apples and pears locally. Furthermore, I get our products from various suppliers, both in Belgium and the Netherlands. We have a very wide range, we supply basics to specialities.”
The shops are often crowded.
People buy with their eyes
The wholesaler ’t Vitamientje supplies to customers all over Limburg. “We are pleased our name is so well-known here. We supply to almost every high-profile business in this Belgian province. That is also why it is so important to continue to supply that quality. Our customers know that we offer a great price/quality ratio. It is important that the customer remains satisfied. Word-of-mouth advertising is still often the best advertising. We also often notice that in our two smaller shops, ’t Vitamientje and ’t Spruitje. We therefore always ensure that our products are presented in the best way possible. Presentation of fresh produce has to be great, because people buy with their eyes.” Bollen notices that consumption of convenience products increases annually. “People enjoy buying convenience products, but they also want homemade products. We have a lot of demand for soups, meals and other processed products in our shop. Especially over the weekend we get lots of people coming to our smaller shops.”
Plenty of choice.
Growth
Wholesaler ’t Vitamientje on the Scheepvaartkaai 20 has almost outgrown its itself. “We continue to grow annually, and therefore we continue to invest to manage that growth. For example, we are soon going to move our cutting kitchen to the front of the building. Moreover, during the final quarter of this year, we will also integrate a new CRM system to optimise our structure, so that we can continue to increase our efficiency.”
For more information:
't Vitamientje
Havermarkt 17
B-3500 Hasselt