Kramer's Sauerkraut for more than 100 years

"Producing sauerkraut is more than just our profession." Leave that to the Kramers after five generations in the business: producing sauerkraut, creating new varieties and developing new recipes. Kramer's Sauerkraut it is. Already since 1890!

Gert Kramer started with the production of sauerkraut. This pioneer cut cabbage by hand with a cabbage cutter. The cabbage was then layered with salt in wooden barrels and packed in so-called hogsheads - barrels of 200 litres each. Sail vessels transported the hogsheads. During the first year the navigation was blocked three months due to heavy frost. Being a pioneer requires a lot of creativeness so the hogsheads with sauerkraut were rolled over the ice to the railway station. Four kilometres of rolling with one man behind each hogshead!

The second generation of the Kramer family had to endure two World Wars and the economic crisis of the Thirties. They overcame all problems.

The third generation of the Kramer family had to focus on modern developments, such as mechanization and industrialization, and to commit to environmental, hygienic and stringent quality requirements. Modern machines core and cut the cabbage now. Hygienic plastic barrels replace the wooden ones. Designated packaging machines put the fresh sauerkraut in a consumer package, vacuum-packed. The production process is continuously monitored and subject to stringent quality controls. The excess sauerkraut fluid is converted in a large water treatment plant, owned by the Kramers themselves.

The fourth generation of the Kramer family is confronted with an increase in scale in the horticultural sector in the Netherlands. A large reduction of the number of specialized greengroceries resulted in larger supermarket organizations. The stringent quality controls were organized in certificates such as HACCP, GLOBAL G.A.P. and BRC. Thanks to the introduction of the Internet, distances to other countries increased and the market for sauerkraut expanded. Communication with the customer took more and more place in an online environment.

These are just a few of the developments that together contribute to top quality sauerkraut, which proudly bears the name Kramer for more than 100 years. In spite of all modern features, producing sauerkraut remains a craft for the Kramer family; every day they want to work well, and they always look for improvements. That attitude characterizes the fifth generation. Cabbage grows under constantly changing circumstances. Each year has a different weather chart. The air, the water, and the soil - everything has changed since 1890. And so have the expectations of the consumers. You will not hear the Kramer's complaining about that: it keeps them young at heart. Because even the youngest generation says: producing sauerkraut is more than just our profession.