Our story starts in our orchard in the Zeeland Flemish Waterlandkerkje. Henk Tazelaar has been growing the tastiest apples and pears since he was seventeen. His orchard expanded step by step over the years, from five to twenty hectares.

After thirty years of growing fruit, Henk thought it was time to try something new. He envisioned it all: conquering the hearts of consumers with a new product, cloudy apple juice. His most beautiful apples freshly pressed, straight from the tree in the bottle! Henk teamed up with a pressing plant with the same passion for good products. This family business presses and bottles our fruit juices to this day.

The first bottle of Appelaere was unveiled on June 15, 1995. We are still proud of Henk that he dared to pioneer! Because at that time, there was mainly clear concentrate juice on the market. That is very different from our cloudy apple juice, which people really had to get used to at the time. It was a new product in terms of taste, appearance and character. Henk did everything in his power to let as many people as possible enjoy de Appelaere. He drove hundreds of kilometers throughout the Netherlands to introduce the catering industry and wholesalers to de Appelaere. We can still picture him figuring out his routes using the street guide.

Our second pride, de Perelaere, was unveiled in the year 2005 by the former Queen Beatrix. After de Appelaere and de Perelaere, more and more people requested high-quality orange juice. A new challenge that we gladly took on. In 2007 our third offspring was a reality: de Sinaasappelaere. Our company became increasingly famous and new, but very familiar faces appeared.

Janine, Henk’s youngest daughter, joined the company. A year later, her sister Carin joined in too. Them joining the company felt familiar from the start, because they were so to speak, born in the orchard. Both helped out where they could from their younger years. Before, they served coffee to the employees in the orchard. Now, they practice their business skills. With them, the daughters brought opportunities for de Appelaere. Carin and Janine’s husband Carlo entered the company simultaneously. Carlo visits clients, like Henk used to do in the early years of de Appelaere.

The family business continued to grow, and more reinforcements were needed. New employees were hired. Angelique and Sonja, accounting experts, joined the team. The bright little spark Amber, too. She is always on the road, meeting clients.

The team is passionate about de Appelaere, and they have a blast working together. As a group, we celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of de Appelaere. And at this special day, Henk thought it was time for him to take a step back from the family company. He still visits the office often, but he enjoys his spare time too. Janine took over the management tasks from him.

Our fruit juices are not just loved in the Netherlands. Since 2011, the juices are being sold in neighbouring country Belgium as well. There, Jorn is the person to talk to about de Appelaere. Belgium is known for its burgundy lifestyle. Our juices go hand in hand with this lifestyle.

Even after all these years, we still trust and rely on our philosophy ‘pure, delicious, fresh!’ The look&feel of our juices never changed. Other things we consider as important are the way we produce, pack and finally transport our products. That is corporate social responsibility! We work environmentally friendly, with care for everything and everyone. The fruits for our juices are immediately processed after being plucked. Apple cores and other waste products can be found in vitamin-rich animal nutrition.

Apart from producing in a responsible manner, we want to do something for the community. We are delighted to work with reintegration companies and social organizations. On top of that, we are pleased to play our part in supporting charity, sport clubs, social clubs, schools and cultural events. That’s conscious entrepreneurship!