Discover Benelux | Food & Drink | A Taste of the Netherlands
Conquering the globe with caramel craftsmanship TEXT: MYRIAM DIJCK | PHOTOS: ROYAL BUISMAN
Celebrating a 150-year history, Royal Buisman has always maintained the entrepreneurial spirit with which they were founded. In the 1950s, they became a household name, but while the characteristic blue tin will still conjure up feelings of nostalgia among the older generation of the Dutch, Royal Buisman is not one to linger in the past. Today, they are fast becoming one of the world’s leading producers of brown food colouring based on natural caramel ingredients. Thanks to their long track record, Royal Buisman knows the ins and outs of producing caramels like none other. The core 46 | Issue 61 | January 2019
process, based on using high-quality raw ingredients, careful timing and controlled application of heat, has remained unchanged, but over the years Royal Buisman has greatly expanded and professionalised itself. Managing director Robert Hoopman says: “We are unique in the world because we still produce our caramels using the same methods as 150 years ago, while using no additives.Our intense flavours and deep colours set us apart from the competition. The natural caramel ingredients can greatly enhance a product, from sweet to savoury, both in taste and colour.”
Simple beginnings The company was founded in 1867 in Zwartsluis by Herman Buisman. In his father’s back yard, he had done careful experimentation to perfect the caramelisa-