On May 2, 2026, Dick Aaldijk passed away at the age of 86. The funeral will take place in a private ceremony on Friday, May 8. His son Randolf wrote the following In Memoriam:
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Dick was born in Schiedam and entered the fruit trade in the early 1960s at Internationale Fruit Maatschappij, which was then based on the Rottekade in Rotterdam, around the corner from Noordplein. In the early years, he worked in dispatch, but before long, he also took on purchasing and sales responsibilities.
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The "Inter" was one of the importers that founded the citrus auction on Marconistraat in Rotterdam, where imported fruit was sold. Dick went against the trend and started selling large volumes of fruit outside the auction system, particularly to Dutch retailers. He was so successful that he was even refused entry to the auction several times by other importers.
Dick was a true dealmaker and, thanks to him, Inter became one of the largest importers of Jaffa, Outspan, and later Cubanita citrus for many years. Following several acquisitions, Inter was eventually taken over and merged with Velleman & Tas, resulting in a new company called Velleman & Tas International BV.
Dick was a major promoter of South African citrus, especially after deregulation opened the market to many new exporters beyond Capespan. Together with several new players in South African citrus exports, such as Afrifresh, Safpro, and Suncitrus, he once again sold large volumes of South African citrus, particularly to retail, as well as to the wholesale trade and juice industry in the Netherlands.
Over the years, Velleman & Tas International BV was fully acquired by Fyffes from Ireland. Dick watched this with regret, as he believed: "A banana company does not understand citrus." His son decided to establish a company with Afrifresh to build a transparent, direct relationship among growers, retailers, and the juice industry in Europe. Not long after the founding of OFD, Dick joined his son at the company.
After spending more than 50 years in the fruit trade, first at Internationale Fruit Mij., later at Velleman & Tas International, which eventually became Fyffes BV, he concluded his career at the age of 75 in 2014 at Origin Fruit Direct. In the years following his retirement, he remained active, including through many trips together with Elly, his wife, who had always supported him, as well as time spent with his children and grandchildren.
Condolence address
Origin Fruit Europe
Albert Plesmanweg 250
3088 GD Rotterdam
Tel. +31 (0) 643 800 350
[email protected]
