Wiskerke Onions processes around 28 million onion packages each year, requiring a high level of operational reliability and automation. To support this scale, the family-owned business has been working with machinery supplier Symach for approximately twenty years, focusing on packing, palletizing, and internal logistics.
Wiskerke Onions has been active in the trade of onions, shallots, and garlic for more than 90 years. The company sources onions from over 10,000 acres and packs them in formats ranging from 100-gram consumer packs to 25-kilogram export bags. Products are supplied to customers in 125 countries as well as to retail channels in the Netherlands. The business is now led by Chayenne Wiskerke, the fourth generation of the Wiskerke family, who took over in 2013 from her father, Jaap Wiskerke.
The company has introduced several measures aimed at energy efficiency and operational safety. Since 2017, residual heat from a nearby potato factory has been used for onion drying, alongside the use of electricity generated by the company's own solar park. Wiskerke states that its operations comply with relevant safety and sustainability certification requirements.
Given the production volumes involved, machinery uptime and consistency are key factors. Wiskerke has relied on Symach equipment for palletizing bags and crates since 2006, when the first palletizer was installed. Symach, founded in 2004, initially focused on agricultural markets in north-west Europe before expanding its activities. In 2014, the company became part of Barry-Wehmiller. Today, Symach employs around 100 people and supplies systems for packing, palletizing, load securing, and internal transport.
Over time, Wiskerke has added multiple palletizers and related equipment, including strapping machines, wrappers, conveyors, and shuttles to move pallets from the packing lines to dispatch. According to the company, these systems reduce forklift movements and support workplace safety.
'I would describe the way we work with Wiskerke Onions as a close partnership rather than a regular client-supplier relationship,' says Johnny de Bat of Symach. He refers to a crate palletizer developed jointly with Bob Salm, technical manager at Wiskerke, which is now used by other customers while the original unit remains in operation at Wiskerke.
© Wiskerke Onions
'Symach sticks to their promises, which is important to us,' says Chayenne Wiskerke. 'Their way of working is very personal, which we appreciate. For instance, their sales team comes to our factory in person to talk to the operators and assess the situation, so that they can tailor the set-up of the machines accordingly.'
She added: 'We can't afford any downtime, and with Symach machines we hardly ever have any malfunctions. If we carry out our scheduled check-up at the start of the season, that's enough to get us through the season without any problems.'
According to Wiskerke, ongoing automation remains necessary as volumes increase and labour availability remains under pressure. 'The biggest challenge in this business is to pack ever-increasing volumes with fewer people and in an increasingly efficient manner. Symach has helped us face that challenge from the get-go, and they continue to do so.'
© Wiskerke OnionsFor more information:
Chayenne Wiskerke
Wiskerke Onions
Tel: +31 113 382 210
Email: [email protected]
www.wiskerke-onions.nl
Fruit Logistica 2026 hal 3.2 stand A14
© SymachJohnny de Bat
Symach
Tel: +31 115 685 625
Email: [email protected]
www.symach.nl
Fruit Logistica 2026 hal 4.1 stand B34
