Marcel Verdellen owns the Dutch companies Satori and Santa Margarita. On Friday, September 1, he acquired the wholesaler Siere AGF. That includes all 27 staff members.
AGF Siere has operated from its premises in Leiden, the Netherlands, for more than a century. "I came across the company," says Marcel.
"That was 18 months ago. I wanted to expand my business to be closer to end customers and thus respond faster to market needs and changes."
AGF Siere is a fruit, vegetable, exotics, and potato wholesaler that supplies restaurants, hotels, greengrocers, and market vendors. "It began as a fruit company, but in recent years, it's become more of a full-service wholesaler. They also sell a wide range of exotics. That fits in nicely with Satori and Santa Margarita's activities," Marcel explains.
"My current companies mostly trade in pallets. With AGF Siere's activities, we're returning to unit-level trading. I look forward to further crystallizing and optimizing this, while quality will always be most important. I also want to see if I can broadly serve my European customers with the Dutch product."
For AGF Siere clients, nothing will change, and former owners Han Bregman and Martin Pet will stay on. "We'll basically stay the same; we're just seeing how we can modernize the company to keep serving customers in the coming decades as well. AGF Siere's employees are true professionals. Together with them, we can offer that extra something our buyers seek," Marcel continues.
Though the wholesale market has shrunk significantly recently, Verdellen is confident about the take-over. "It's a nice healthy company that sells the fruit and vegetable package to restaurateurs, retailers, and market traders throughout the Netherlands. It serves a large customer base of hotels, restaurants, and sandwich stores in a 30-kilometer radius around Leiden. People will always need to eat, so I'm sure there will always be a market for a full-service wholesaler that listens carefully to its customers."
Marcel will be at the site a lot in the next while, so he plans to look for a place to live in Leiden. "Adding AGF Siere to the group of companies means we largely control the chain. Now, to start growing ourselves, then we can say we're a chain specialist, from field to fork," he concludes.
For more information:
Marcel Verdellen
AGF Siere BV
27 Roosevelt Street
2321 BL, Leiden, NL
Tel. +31 (0) 715 769 211
Email: [email protected]
Website: [email protected]
