Who will be Limburg's Entrepreneur of the Year?

The editors of De Limburger and WijLimburg are organizing the second edition of the election of Limburg Entrepreneur of the Year. The focus this year is on sustainability, a theme with which several entrepreneurs from the agri-food sector managed to secure a place among the nominees.

The winner last year was André Rieu. This year 21 Limburg entrepreneurs have been selected from companies in different sectors and of various sizes. Among the nominees we find no less than nine entrepreneurs who are committed to sustainable, fair and/or healthy food.

Honest cocoa

Mirjam Schroeder of Chocolate Company is the inventor of the hotchocspoon; a lump of chocolate on a wooden spoon. The company with a chocolate factory in Kerkrade, now has 21 combi café-chocolate stores in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, plus four shop-in-shops. The Cacao-Trace system supports farmers with knowledge in growing, harvesting, fermenting cocoa beans. In addition to education and fair wages, farmers have the opportunity to earn a bonus. The higher the quality of the beans, the higher the bonus.

Innovation in food

Feike Sijbesma of DSM in Heerlen was selected thanks to the commitment to health, nutrition and sustainable living. The company produces vitamins, food ingredients, second generation biofuels, high performance materials and bioplastics. As a partner of the United Nations, DSM is leading the fight against hunger and malnutrition. Other trump cards are sugar substitute Avansya, sustainable salmon farming and the ambition to make all DSM materials fully recyclable.

Sustainable oyster mushrooms

Rob Hermans of Zwamburg grows oyster mushrooms on coffee grounds, a waste stream from the local catering industry. Because of the local sales, many CO2 kilometers are saved as well. For CO2-neutral cultivation, use is made of heat pump technology, solar panels and LED lighting. The stalks of the oyster mushrooms and the waste, are used by collaborating with local partners as (partial) meat replacement for grilled sausages, burgers, croquettes and dried spelt pasta. The processed substrate is made into compost.

Good vegetable

Bart Merkus of SoFine Foods in Landgraaf makes and sells plant-based foods and meat substitutes. In 1963 the company started making tofu. Since then, there are already about 130 products on the menu, from drinks snacks to vegetable burgers. "Delicious food for a more beautiful world," is the company motto, according to director Bart Merkus. "It is our mission to make delicious, friendly and healthy food. For everyone. Whether you eat vegetarian, are vegan or want to vary as a flexitarian."

Beer made from local raw materials

Jan-Paul Rutten is the nominee of Gulpener, the independent family brewery from Gulpen. This company is the only brewery in the Netherlands that uses almost all raw materials from its own region; water from its own wells, hops from its own hop garden and barley from about 25 farmers in the region. That's why the beer has the label Erkend Streekproduct. Currently, Gulpener is building the most sustainable brewhouses in Europe, with the energy being derived from an innovative heat pump.

Squeezy bags against food waste

Boy Jacobs of SiTesta's was bothered by the waste of crooked and unsightly cucumbers that are fine to eat, yet were not sold. The son of a cucumber grower from Kessel came up with the following solution with partner Bart Kuijpers: squeeze bags with drinkable vegetables, without added sugar, salt or flavoring. Thanks to a new preservation technique, the product does contain all the healthy ingredients. It's called Xqueeze.Me (squeeze me), and is intended as a snack for young people looking for healthy products.

Blue Chickens and Eggs

Ruud Zanders of Kipster has won many an award for his sustainable and environmentally friendly business practices. Kipster launched the world's first climate-neutral egg in 2017. The chickens only get residual streams from the food industry on their plates and the juffers are kept as animal-, environment- and human-friendly as possible. The first farm to be located in Oirlo will have two "fellow Kipsters," barns that are currently being built elsewhere in the country. The Venlo-based company is about to break through internationally with agreements in Belgium and the US, while various talks are being finalized in other countries.

Hamburgers made of cultured meat

Mark Post of Mosa Meat in Maastricht has been working for years to realize tasty cultured meat burgers. The burger of cultured meat comes from stem cells of a cow. Now the company needs to ensure that the sustainable meat product can be produced on a larger scale. Post believes that cultured meat will start to displace regular meat from the shelves within twenty to thirty years.