From local bottler to international food concern

In 1931, Albert Brouwer gave up fishing on the former Zuiderzee and opened Havenzicht Hotel on Urk. By 1938, his sons Frans and Lucas Brouwer began producing soft drinks and fruit wines, and also bottling wine and beer in the hotel cellar. The soft drinks were produced using water transported from Kampen in large wooden barrels, because there was not yet a water supply suitable for production purposes on the (then) island of Urk.

And so contact with the town of Kampen was established, and the family moved there in 1963. This was followed by an explosive growth of the soft drinks factory and the beverages wholesale deliveries, also representing Heineken in the entire region.

By then, the third generation of Brouwer was aware that the sales market and catering trade was rapidly changing, and reacted to the challenge by developing various other activities. It was a painful day however, when the original company activity, the lemonade production, was finally stopped in 1989.

The well-known regional beverages wholesaler was then taken over by Heineken in 1999. Brouwer Groothandelsgroep, now with the fourth generation of Brouwer, has since grown into a company with five independently operating subsidiaries: Brouwer Catering Wholesaler, Schiava, Visscher Seafood, Slothouber Seafood with the Fisherman's Choice® brand and Brouwer Food Service with the Asia Express Food trade name.

No matter how big the group grows, there is still a love of the profession, love of the product . Involvement in and feeling for the product and quality, as well as the level of service, is a characteristic found among everyone working for the Brouwer companies. With such an enthusiastic and dedicated team, it is a pleasure to satisfy our clients.