Three jubilees at Frigo Nieuw-Vennep together accounting for 105 years of knowledge and experience

If employee turnover is illustrative of a company’s atmosphere, culture and appeal, Frigo Nieuw-Vennep is in good shape. Director Margreet van Elderen was able to honour three more jubilees on Tuesday 16 July.

With a large bouquet, she expressed her great appreciation for (from left to right) Rob Balkenende, Harry Hoogkamer and Ron Sprengers, who have been working for Frigo Nieuw-Vennep for 40, 25 and 40 years respectively. Together, they represent no less than 105 years of knowledge and experience in the field of frozen logistic services.

With thanks to brother Frans
The three men have in common that they did not respond to an official job advertisement, but entered Frigo Nieuw-Vennep through someone who already worked for the company. In the case of Harry Hoogkamer (60), it was his youngest brother Frans who brought him into the company as a forklift driver. ‘Twenty-five years later, he still works there too. Like him, I can work very well alone, let me do my thing. I’m honest about it: the first five years were the most fun, because not everything was digitised then. From 2004, when the WMS system was introduced, everything became more businesslike and efficient.’
Harry hastens to add that he still enjoys working at Frigo Nieuw-Vennep. ‘The work has changed over the years, but I still get a lot of satisfaction out of it. I regularly get compliments from drivers for the way I have prepared an order. In the end, you do it for that.’

Sense of technology
Rob Balkenende (64) was alerted in 1984 by an acquaintance who was already working at Frigo Nieuw-Vennep that the cold store was in urgent need of a new forklift driver. ‘I was hired for a period of two months, but my employment turned out to be somewhat longer,’ he laughs. ‘Within the company, it was soon clear that I have a feel for technology. As a maintenance engineer, I have single-handedly formed the technical department of Frigo Nieuw-Vennep since 1988. Plenty of work, because it takes a lot of machines and installations to keep such a modern cold store running.’
Rob also still enjoys working at Frigo Nieuw-Vennep after all these years. ‘The biggest difference from forty years ago is that almost all machines are computer-controlled nowadays. That does not alter the fact that without proper, careful and periodic maintenance, every machine will sooner or later run into soup.’

Holiday job?
Because he didn’t feel like continuing his education after secondary school and a year of automotive engineering, Ron Sprengers (56) applied to Frigo Nieuw-Vennep in 1984 at the age of 16. ‘Well, applying… I joined the company through a friend who already worked there, initially as a forklift driver. Hein van Elderen, the then owner and Margreet’s father, first thought I was a schoolboy who wanted a holiday job. When schools had started again and he still saw me driving around on the forklift every day, he offered me a permanent contract.’
Ron made it to manager, but estimates that he can still be found on a forklift about 70 per cent of the time. ‘I am a kind of flying keeper, helping out wherever needed. I also liaise with customers and suppliers. What particularly appeals to me in my job is the variety. That is inherent in logistics. No two days are the same. You have to be able to switch very quickly and anticipate last-minute changes.’

True family business
Like Harry and Rob, Ron also feels that the digitisation of all operations and processes is the biggest change he has witnessed professionally in recent decades. ‘Nevertheless, I still see Frigo Nieuw-Vennep as a real family business, including all the good qualities that go with it. Such as a flat organisation, short lines of communication, a lot of responsibility for employees and opportunities to develop and grow. Partly because of this, after all these years I am still enjoying myself at Frigo Nieuw-Vennep.’

About the Frigo Group
Together with Frigo Group Transport and Frigo Group Logistics, Frigo Nieuw-Vennep forms Frigo Group, which has been the number one logistics service provider in frozen goods since 1973. Within this family business, Frigo Group Logistics focuses on the complete logistic handling of deep-frozen and ambient goods flows and Frigo Group Transport specialises in conditioned transport and transport of e.g. steel and machinery at home and abroad. With Frigo Nieuw-Vennep, Frigo Group has a cold store in Nieuw-Vennep with a capacity of 22,000 pallet spaces.