Yme Kuiper renovates with confidence

Yme Kuiper, based in Heerenveen, has been part of the food industry for 166 years. This family business, specializing in dried fruits, nuts, and seeds, continues to grow alongside the market, its customers, and evolving technologies. For the recent expansion and renovation of its production facility, they turned to a familiar partner: Sentho.

“We started back in 1859 in a windmill,” says Andreas Wierda, Production Manager at Yme Kuiper. He gestures toward a large photograph in the meeting room showing founder Yme Kuiper and his family standing in front of the mill. “These days, we supply dried fruits, seeds, and nuts to wholesalers, industrial bakeries, biscuit manufacturers, and muesli producers. Around 85 different products in more than 400 varieties. To customers across the Netherlands and Northwest Europe. As they grow, so do we.”

As of 2025, the company focuses on three core activities: dried fruits like currants and raisins, cleaned, blended to customer specs, portioned by weight, and formulated to customer recipes; seeds and kernels, cleaned, mixed, and custom-packed, for example as pre-mixes for or on bread; and thirdly, nuts, cleaned, blended, and again tailored to each customer’s needs.

Andreas Wierda and Niels Burger

A global supply chain

Every day, Yme Kuiper processes numerous shipping containers and trailers of raw materials. “Everything comes in bulk. Our products come from all over the world,” Andreas continues. “We’re involved right from the source. That matters to us.” The factory runs with a core team of 65 staff, supported by flexible workers during peak seasons like Christmas and Easter. “We do everything ourselves; from procurement to packaging, blending, and distribution. We deliver ready-to-use products that customers can immediately work with.”

Quality as the foundation

Food safety is paramount. “Anything leaving this facility has to be 100% clean. We use high-end technology to detect and remove foreign objects like small stones, plastic, or wood fragments. We carry out both internal and external microbiological checks.” Due to increased volumes and new product development requests, there was a need to expand processing capacity and create new mixing capabilities. This led to the upgrade from two to three production lines for cleaning, conditioning, and blending dried fruits. Since it involved existing spaces, renovation work was also necessary. “But without interrupting production,” Andreas adds. “Operations had to keep running. So we tackled the renovation in phases, spread across 2024.”

Relying on familiar faces

The decision to partner with Sentho for the renovation was an easy one. “We’d worked together before on another project,” Andreas explains. “That went well, so we teamed up again this time.”

Niels Burger, Director at Sentho, confirms Andreas’ account. “We operate nationally, but with regional teams. In this case, the same installers returned who’d worked here back in 2007 during the expansion with the large warehouses and new production lines. They are familiar faces. You only need half a word.”

Phased and flexible

The work involved installing FRP walls and doors, along with updates to several areas. Andreas: “You always encounter surprises in projects like this. You remove a wall and find something unexpected behind it. That calls for flexibility and clear communication. We had direct lines of contact. One quick phone call and it was sorted. It also helped that Sentho already had good ties with the flooring specialist. That saves you from reinventing the wheel.”

From input to execution

Sentho was involved in planning, execution, and coordination. “It makes such a difference working with people who know your organisation,” says Andreas. “There’s no need to repeat instructions. Hygiene protocols, signing in and out, safety - it was all crystal clear from the start.” The collaboration even went beyond the original scope. “We were able to request additional work during the process too. There were extra areas we wanted to include in the renovation. And that was possible.”

Prepared for the future

This renovation leaves them wanting more. “In a production environment, the work is never done,” Andreas confirms. “Floors wear out. Walls get damaged. You keep improving. And it’s good to know who to call when that happens.” Niels is just as positive. “What I admire about Yme Kuiper is the combination of heritage and passion. You can feel it in everything they do. It’s exactly how we work too: committed, solution-oriented, and with attention to detail. Whether it’s a wall, a door, or a brand-new space, in the end, it all comes down to collaboration and trust.”

www.ymekuiper.nl
www.sentho.nl

Photos: ©Anne van der Woude