Collaboration HEMA Bakeries and Lavans tastes good

HEMA has a name to uphold as a bakery. With a focus on food safety and quality, partners are closely involved. Such as Lavans, which fully supports this and has recently concluded a new five-year partnership for comfortable, clean and safe company clothing.

It is probably the most popular pastry in the Netherlands: the HEMA pastry. On numerous occasions, people enjoy the familiar banquet: from tompouces to photo cakes and from sausage rolls to apple crumble pies. There will undoubtedly have been some treats on the table when the contract between Lavans and HEMA Bakeries was recently extended for five years. This collaboration dates back to 2009 and clearly has more to offer. "Lavans is a very pleasant partner for us," confirms Tim Slats, QA employee at HEMA Bakeries. 

Clothing package renewed

Food safety is of paramount importance at HEMA, just as it is at Lavans. "And safety for our employees," adds Slats. Company clothing plays an important role in the whole picture. The existing clothing package - some 5,500 polo shirts and an equal number of trousers - will be completely white, where the trousers in the bakery are still blue-white. "White reflects cleanliness", Slats knows. Lavans produces the clothing in-house, in close cooperation with the customer. "Our people are emphatically involved in the choice of clothing," emphasises Slats. 

In addition, the new company clothing supplied by Lavans has a thicker quality and will therefore last longer. This fits in perfectly with the HEMA sustainability vision. In addition, the industrial clothing in the bakeries must be sturdy and heat-resistant. For safety reasons, bags are limited to a small bag on the inside. "Lavans complies with all the standards that are important to us and is constantly improving its processes," says Slats. For example, barcodes in the clothing ensure that it always returns to the same bakery after washing. 

Sufficiently clean clothing in all sizes

"The clothes are not personalized," Slats explains. "We work with a large flexible team of employees. During the corona period, much less use was made of that. That results in a lot of clothes being left lying around. The clothing has to be worn by people of different sizes. That's why there's elastic in the waistband, for example. It is a requirement that employees wear clean clothing on a daily basis. They have to be comfortable to wear. So it is important that there is enough clean clothing in all sizes. And that is perfectly in order."

Scaling up during peak pressure

At the end of the working day, worn clothing goes into the cart and the next morning everyone in the workplace puts on clean clothes. Lavans provides clean clothing at all locations on a weekly basis, with the dirty clothing being taken away immediately. According to Slats, the company from Helmond is always willing to think along with you. "For example, a lot more people work for us in the peak period - November and December. Lavans then scales up with us, gladly drives one extra time to make sure there is enough clean company clothing everywhere". 

Trust

HEMA's central bakery is located in Almere. In addition, there are six other bakery locations: in Sneek, Zwolle, Doetinchem, Dordrecht, Helmond and again Almere. From each of these locations, between 40 and 100 stores in the region are supplied, at fresh daily delivery level. "Because of corona, we do not in theory let any external parties in, with a few exceptions," says Slats. "Lavans is one of them. It brings in the clean clothes sealed in and also signals when the clothes are running out or can no longer be cleaned properly and are therefore in need of replacement. We can rely on that. The fact that we have now extended the cooperation for five years says it all."

lavans.com