Fresh Food Factory

Joyce Schroot’s background included over a decade of R&D experience in the foodstuff, chemical and pharmaceutical industry when she decided to start her own business. In 2013, she established Fresh Food Factory. With her technical and commercial background, strong analytical skills and strong belief in teamwork, she is frequently in demand as a project manager to support the growth and development of local and international food manufacturing companies. The business flourished, and two years later, partner Anne de Vries came on board. Anne has extensive experience and a broad network in the fresh-cut vegetables, fruit, juice and salad processing industry.   

Independent, practical advice

The goal is to improve food manufacturing businesses one day at a time. Methodologies such as the theory of constraints (TOC), business processing re-engineering (BPR), Lean and Six Sigma are adopted to improve and optimise existing production lines. Fresh Food Factory is also frequently called in as a partner to help design new production locations. This can be through creating a feasibility study, providing process advice, drafting a plant design or offering legislative advice. For instance, the American company, Smart Wash Solutions, requested a report on current technological developments in the European fruit and vegetable processing market. They wanted advice and an implementation plan on acquiring approval for their product, SmartWash, on the European market.

A Russian greenhouse grower of vegetables, herbs and flowers had a plan to expand his product assortment. Their logistics at the time was geared towards retail and food services, but they wanted to start delivering fresh-cut vegetables and salads. The company had no prior experience with processing vegetables. Fresh Food Factory drafted a business plan, including a technical design for the plant to be built, plus all the production resources required. 

Machine manufacturer network

The Netherlands has an internationally high reputation for growing and processing fruits and vegetables. Many machine manufacturers in that regard are also located in the Netherlands. They often refer potential machine buyers to Fresh Food Factory whenever additional help is required beyond simply delivering the machines. This sometimes leads to work in far-away places. For instance, they implemented the first industrial-scale plant for chilled fresh-cut vegetables in Indonesia for a Java-based food company that supplies to fast-food chains,

Export countries: Belgium, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Russia, USA, Egypt and Israel.