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The story of Buisman
Expensive coffee
Buisman was founded in 1867 by the Dutch entrepreneur, Herman Buisman. In those days, coffee was in high demand, scarce and very expensive. Buisman saw opportunities for using caramelised sugars as a Taste Booster for coffee. He sent his son Roelof to Leiden University to learn more about the production of caramelised sugar.
Perfecting the process
Roelof started to experiment to further perfect the caramelisation process. He developed a special process and reaction vats to guarantee consistent and high quality. The final product – a dark brown powder – was an excellent Taste Booster for coffee and was easy to use. The product quickly became a great success and was soon being sold all over The Netherlands.
How it's made
Fresh brew coffee
At that time, most people in The Netherlands drank filtered coffee. They bought roasted coffee beans at a shop and ground the beans at home. The ground coffee was added to a filter along with a small scoop of Buisman. The fresh brewed coffee with added Buisman had a richer aroma and was more affordable, because it used less ground coffee.
Innovation
In 1893 the name “Buisman” was registered, and became one of the first branded products in The Netherlands. A few years later, new packaging was introduced: a small reclosable blue can made from galvanized steel. Buisman also began nationwide advertising campaigns in newspapers, and quickly became a household name in The Netherlands.
Strong growth
Coffee consumption continued to grow and it became standard practice to add a small scoop of Buisman to ground coffee. A new factory was built to upscale production. Over the years, the factory had to be further expanded several times to keep up with the strong growth in demand.
A Royal brand
In 1951, Her Majesty Juliana, Queen of The Netherlands, awarded Buisman the Royal designation. This honour is given to companies that hold a prominent position within their industry, have an excellent reputation and are distinguished by quality, reliability and continuity.
Reinventing our business
In the 1970s, the quality of coffee gradually improved, and prices became more affordable. Vacuum packed ground coffee was also introduced, which changed consumer habits. Buisman still had a loyal customer base, but the number of new customers declined. It was necessary to reinvent the company. New applications for Buisman as an ingredient were discovered, and new products were developed. More and more food and beverage producers started to recognise the products as a Taste Booster. Royal Buisman transformed into a specialty ingredient company and started selling all over Europe.
ApplicationsNew coffee markets
The use of our products in coffee remains an important part of the business. They are still used in combination with ground coffee, but are increasingly used together with soluble coffee. They enrich the flavour in soluble coffee and are used to optimise recipe costs. Today, Royal Buisman is experiencing a strong growth in emerging coffee markets, such as Southeast Asia.
