Celebration of 50th Birthday of HOBA, half a century of Customised bakery solutions
A beautiful, typical Dutch manufacturer of bread slice- and packaging machines will celebrate their 50 years of existence on the market. Something what might be said and to be proud off in these economical times. The editor of NBT magazine were visiting HOBA to look back at 50 years of slicing, packaging and closing solutions for bread, buns and rolls. Also there was a small look already at the future with Bert Hoolwerf and Johan Lammen (Directors) and Nicole Jordens (Sales Manager)
During arrival at HOBA in Weesp it turns out that they have taken their preparations and we are greeted by balloons, birthday cake and champagne by the whole HOBA crew. The 50th anniversary is a reason for a party but for HOBA it is even more reason to be positive because the future looks very nice, as we hear from our conversation with Bert, Johan and Nicole.
For HOBA it all started back in 1965. “To be precise on 1st of October in the city Baarn” said Nicole Jordens. “At that time, Mr. L. Hoolwerf started the company on his own. The name of HOBA is part of the last name of the owner Hoolwerf and the city where the company started Baarn. Mr. Hoolwerf was until then working for other companies but had already a clear view of how to make bakery machines. ‘If somebody else can make it and sell it, then I can also do it myself.’ Was what he said back then. And that is how it all started in the garage next to his house. In the beginning the work was mainly revising of existing ginger bread machines. However engineering was in his blood and in 1967 he developed his first Bagblower for easy opening of plastic bags by an air fan. These first machines were made of wood because of the availability of steel as well as the prices. The construction was ahead of time and is still the base for the Holly Bagblower nowadays. Of course there have been developments, but it shows that the idea was very good.
“Initially the customers on the market were still skeptic about the blower, but nearly a hundred units were sold between 1968 and 1969, even to Suriname,” said Nicole. “After this success, there came more questions from the market for different solutions and soon conveyors, slice- and packaging machines where added to the machine program of HOBA. In 1984 Bert Hoolwerf joined the company of his father and eventually took the whole company over. Since Bert started, the company went international with their sales. Especially in Scandinavia was HOBA in the eighties strongly represented. Nowadays our products are sold worldwide.”
In 2001 the production was done by a third company, so that HOBA could focus more on the sales and engineering. “But in 2008 the production went back to HOBA again,” says Johan Lammen. “It turned out that the skills, knowledge and heart of the product lies at HOBA. That this was the right choice is now proven with the growth of the company from 16 till 30 employees. In Weesp there is an own production facility optimally designed to achieve as much production as possible and with this is ready for the future and further growth.”
Johan himself joined the company in 2003. “First to support Bert with sales but later on I became more involved in other aspects of the business. My passion lays with solving technical problems and I am always there for my customers. This is my Hobby and I am fortunate to have made my work out of it. I became a co-owner in 2013. We have now 2 directors, so that the continuity of HOBA is guaranteed.”
“HOBA is fifty years active on the market and have been a reliable partner for our customers.”
With the latest changes the focus is now on the future. Due to the demand from the market, the focus is currently much on delivering turn-key projects, so we hear. Nicole: “We work with several reliable extern partners. Larger and more complex lines are getting more important, also to increase the market. We are well represented worldwide but we want to keep growing and developing. We focus mainly on the bakery sector, since this is where we have our knowledge. We have to keep concentrated on what we are good at, in our case slicing, packaging and closing of bread, buns and rolls with customized solutions.”
“We do not need different markets”, as Johan adds. “Our specialty is in the bakery industry. Of course the focus shift occasionally on other machines, but the goal is always the same: find a solution which meet with the customer requirements. We do not like to say no to an customer request. And when we say yes, we believe in a good end-result. This means that we have to keep on developing. The sales of customized projects normally start from paper. There is an idea but the solution needs to be engineered and realized. This keeps us focused to achieve our goals. This is because of our knowledge, enthusiasm and commitment to produce a good quality of product. We see everywhere a challenge.”
When we ask for further celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of HOBA, Johan mentions in particular the participation in IBA and Gulfood Manufacturing. “We put great value to the participations in various trade fairs and we stick to this idea. Although you nowadays see more shift of the contact to Internet and Social Media. We think that the personal contact with existing customers and dealers, but also getting to know new customers is very important and can only be achieved by fairs. Also the fair gives us a great possibility to show our machines, since customers still want to ‘look and feel’ the machines in real life. During IBA 2015 we will show our turn-key solutions, such as complete lines in which we integrated labelers and metal detector systems. We are more then only slice- and packaging machines.”
Over the past fifty years, HOBA has proven themselves as a reliable partner. This is one of the main things Bert Hoolwerf is proud off. “HOBA is fifty years in the market and we have been a stable partner for our customers. We are proud on this fact. We are known for thinking with the customer to create the best suitable solution in which quality is the leading factor. It goes well with HOBA. Especially now that Johan is also in charge, the company can grow further in a controlled way. We have an enthusiastic and most professional group of employees. This base was set 50 years ago by Mr. L. Hoolwerf and have led to where we are today. We will ensure that HOBA keeps on developing and improving to become also the reliable partner for our for our customers for the next coming years.
