Discover Benelux | Food & Drink | A Taste of the Netherlands
Photo: Jenny van Gompel
Getting your just desserts TEXT: BAS VAN DUREN | PHOTOS: QARC
The Dutch are known for the many wonders they can do with dairy products and that definitely includes quark. With its creamy texture and zesty flavour, ‘kwark’ – as they call it in the Netherlands – is a culinary staple and one such producer is the aptly named Qarc in Bladel, near the Belgian border. Produced from start to finish at a dairy farm, Qarc’s quark is as pure as they come and with a delightful taste to boot. The beginnings of Qarc read as something of a fairy tale. As the daughter of dairy farmers, Leonie van Zuilichem worked with cows from a young age. As a student, she studied business economics, but that did not make her happy. What did make her happy, however, was working months on end at dairy farms in Norway, Ireland and Denmark, a time she describes as ‘almost utopic’. Back home in Bladel, her parents’
farm had the space to do something new and Leonie came up with business plans. Thoughts were put into ideas for a theme park or a karting circuit, but the love of dairy never left Leonie. In 2012, Qarc was born. With a dairy farm that has a little over 70 cows that are fed by GMO-free homegrown crops, the foundations were laid for Qarc. With parents Wim and Mieke running the dairy farm and even grandpa Cor helping in the summertime, the family company is small and flexible. With Qarc, Van Zuilichem produces yoghurt, ‘hangop’ (Dutch curd) and mainly quark, the latter starting with nothing more than a pan and some milk. Fast forward five years and Qarc is expanding its work space, as well as delivering to several supermarkets, meal box companies and care institutions. Leonie now runs Qarc together with husband Roel
and they will take over the dairy farm in the near future as well. The secret to Qarc’s success is, according to Van Zuilichem, the taste. “We use fresh milk from our own cows and pure fruits instead of compotes or aromas. The cookie crumble crust is made each week by a local baker and all our desserts are free from additives. “We have our proven hits with natural, strawberry, raspberry and forest fruits. There’s a limited edition each season with favourites like poached pears, passion fruit and even ginger, all neatly packed with an eye to detail. Our nifty sleeves designed by Jan van der Asdonk have little fruits in their logo and small things like that are what makes Qarc tick.” Web: www.qarc.nl
Issue 52 | April 2018 | 45