1992
Acquisition of the parental mixed farm. Main activities: beef cattle and dairy cows combined with potatoes and cauliflower for industrial purposes. First expansion with the construction of a piggery for 250 sows and piglets.
1994
Start-up of the poultry farming. Construction of a stable for 25,000 meat chickens. Discontinuation of the beef cattle branch.
1996
The company discontinues breeding dairy cows and invests more in the expansion of the poultry farming: 50,000 meat chickens. Further in-depth specialisation in cultivating cauliflower for industrial purposes.
2nd half 90s
Crisis in agriculture. Prices for grain and potatoes are under pressure. Despite the prejudice that Belgian potatoes aren’t good table potatoes as they’re hard to wash and supposedly don’t have a beautiful peel, the company starts growing and packaging for a local customer. 1 ha of Nicola and 1 ha of Charlotte is planted. After a successful first year of cultivation, the company focuses more on potatoes for the fresh market.
1999
More hectares of table potatoes and a bigger harvest demand better storing conditions. Therefore the company installs a box storage
(1,500 tons) for firm boiling potatoes.
2001-2002
First contacts with several partners in retail. Start-up of washing and packaging for Belgian supermarkets. The company starts small with a limited volume of 700 tons every year.
2004
Because of the continuous growth of the potato branch and the strict demands of retail, a new parcel is purchased and a separate business is founded. This way animal production and food are strictly divided in two separate businesses. The beginning of De aardappelhoeve.
2006
Construction on the new parcel is finished.
Now 3,000 m² of built-up area are available consisting of a spacious hangar, a quality laboratory, grading machines, cold rooms and packing machines.
2010
A big leap forward: At this moment, De aardappelhoeve cultivates potatoes on a total of 150 ha.
2014
Further expansion of the potato business. A new wave of expansion with the construction of offices and a separate hangar for two washing lines. This adds up to 9,500 m²extra space. There are four new cold rooms, a box storage, a warehouse with packing materials and a storage for organic boxes.
2015
The gps-driven spreader is used for the first time.
2016
Het biohof takes off. This sister company of De aardappelhoeve only focuses on organic farming. It tests cultivars and offers support to organic farmers who deliver to De aardappelhoeve.
2017
De aardappelhoeve, in collaboration with Colruyt, gets the short chain supply project going which results in a more constant quality, a more stable price and a prolongation of the Belgian potato season.
2018
Compared to eight years ago, the share of our own cultivation has doubled.
The result is 300 ha of potatoes.
2019
Further automation of the packing lines with a full automatic pallet stacking system. In this way, we create a better ergonomic working environment for our employees.
First cultivation of organic sweet potatoes.
October 2020
Development of 'The Potato Chef', a new A-brand of fresh and frozen potato and (sweet) potato products. Under the motto ‘Less effort, more taste’, we are responding to the increasing demand for easy and quick-to-prepare food that is also vegan.
December 2020
Commissioning of new series of solar panels with a total area of over 4,000m2 and a green energy production of 810 MWh in the first year.
June 2021
Start of new construction project for ultramodern storage warehouse. Earthworks for buffer basin with a capacity of 2 million litres of rainwater.
