Discover Benelux | Food & Drink | A Taste of the Netherlands
Frank Dechering (left) and Paul Stam. Photo: Lieke Heijn - Cameron Studio
125 years of enriching Dutch cuisine TEXT: MICHIEL STOL | PHOTOS: LASSIE
When you say ‘rice’, you say ‘Lassie’. The brand has been a household name for many generations in the Netherlands. Their ‘Toverrijst’ turns 60 next year and is still made at the same place where, 125 years ago, the brothers Laan started a company that would revolutionise Dutch cuisine forever. “Moving the plant has never been an option for us,” says Frank Dechering, commercial director of Lassie. In 1893, Albert and Jacob Adriaan Laan founded what was then called Mercurius, and built the first ever steam-powered peeling company, in Wormer, along the Zaan River. “Back then, the Zaan area was the industrial heart of the Netherlands. Here were all the mills that processed grains. It was the start of the innovative spirit that still forms the basis of our company,” he continues. “Because the plant is still on the Zaan River, we can use ships to deliver the rice to us. One ship equals 40 truckloads, so that reduces a lot of traffic and emissions.” 44 | Issue 52 | April 2018
At the start in 1893 the company mainly peeled groats, soon followed by oatmeal and rice. “After the Great War, most of the products were shipped to middlemen,” explains Paul Stam, director of marketing and innovation. “Rice was still a luxurious food. It wasn’t until after World War II, when Dutch soldiers returned from the Dutch East Indies – where they learned to eat ‘nasi goreng’ – that the demand for rice, especially for dry grain rice which could be prepared at home in an easy way, increased.” Albert and Jacob opened a laboratory to create a method to dry the rice. “In 1959 they found the way to steam-dry the grain in such a way that the rice could be cooked in just eight minutes, without having to worry about the amount of water being used. Lassie and ‘Toverrijst’ were born,” reveals Stam. The name is derived from the Scottish ‘Lassie’, the nickname for a nice girl, and was picked by one of the owners.
Since then, Lassie Toverrijst became a household name in the Netherlands, and it revolutionised Dutch cuisine: rice is now one of its main ingredients. And although the production processes are still the same, Lassie continues to innovate. “We have started importing other sorts of rice, like risotto and basmati, and making them easy to cook. Now we also have a whole range of pulses and grains, such as quinoa and bulgur,” Dechering elaborates. “Innovating is in our DNA,” smiles Stam. “From the first steam-powered plant, to the Toverrijst; it is what Lassie does. We keep track of the market and keep on pioneering, so that we can create products that are delicious, easy to cook and will enrich Dutch cuisine. We have done that from the same location for 125 years, and we are planning to carry on doing so for at least as long.” Web: www.lassie.nl