History

Since 1925, the name Schrijvershof has been synonymous with fruit and vegetables. The company, which grew fruit in its early years, has now developed into an importer and exporter.

In the Netherlands, cherries were grown on a large scale at the beginning of the twentieth century. The cherry orchards were mainly found in the east of the country, in the region known as the Achterhoek. Schrijvershof leased some of these orchards, and during harvesting the whole family moved from Oud-Beijerland to the Achterhoek where the fruit was picked and sold.

Hendrik Schrijvershof later became the founder of “H. Schrijvershof VOF, handel in aardappelen, groenten en fruit” (H. Schrijvershof partnership, trading in potatoes, fruit and vegetables). Schrijvershof's activities soon leaned towards trading in fruit and vegetables. The goods were hawked in the towns and villages surrounding Oud-Beijerland.

During the 1970s, Maarten Schrijvershof expanded the company under the name ‘De Schreeuwers’ (loosely translated as The Shouting Peddlers). Not such a strange name if you consider that hawking involved shouting as loudly as possible to attract customers to your cart. The use of hawking slowly decreased during the 1980s, giving way to weekly markets and shops.

Alongside Maarten Schrijvershof Sr., his four sons now also work in the company: Henk, Maarten, Alexander and Willem. With the arrival of this third generation, Schrijvershof's retail activities have been replaced with the import and export of fruit and vegetables.