Production at Royal Steensma resumed after fire

First Easter orders have already been shipped again

FRANEKER –  This morning  Royal Steensma, Manufacturer of Bakery Ingredients, has resumed the production of candied fruit at the production facility in Franeker, after the drying hall was completely destroyed by a raging fire last Friday. No one was injured as a result of the fire. After extensive technical research last weekend the facility has been released again. As a result the approximately 50 employees could start working again around 06:00 a.m. to take care of current orders. This way consumers will be able to enjoy their usual specialities at Easter for which the candied ingredients by Royal Steensma are so important.

The cause is still unknown

The research into the cause of the fire is still going on. First conclusions are that there is no reason to suspect foul play. The grounds have been cleaned and the demolition of the remains of the affected production facility will be started today. The damages amount to millions: it goes without saying that Royal Steensma is fully insured. A temporary solution will be sought externally for drying the candied fruit. Only a small amount of our candied assortment needs to be dried.

Customers will hardly notice
The impact of the fire is huge, especially amongst the personell involved in the candied fruit production. In spite of this a joint effort is being made to resume aIl tasks. “It is heart warming to see how involved all our employees are”, says Royal Steensma general director Rimmer de Jong. “And also our customers, suppliers and even our competitors. Everybody is expressing their support, which is very nice to know.” De Jong als mentions that there is a strong sense of cooperation “together we get this done”. We are convinced that we’ll get out of this stronger than we were before. Moreover: the plans for the rebuild are already being made as we speak.

Spread of risk
It is a conscious choice for Royal Steensma to spread the production of the total product assortment of ingredients for bread and pastries accross the in total four production  facilities of Royal Steensma  in the Netherlands. This to avoid the risk of eventual calamities. This strategy is now paying off after the fire of the facility in Franeker

Size
The  premises  in Franeker amount to a total size of 25.000 m2: The drying hall measures 1.000m2. In the area of the production of candied and infused fruit Royal Steensma has a leading position in the market. The products from this location are exported to over 50 countries worldwide.