In 1928, Klaas Fuite started up a small village bakery in IJsselmuiden. Day in and day out, he made the most delicious bread in the traditional way. Currently, his sons Klaas and Gerard run the business. Despite the bakery being relocated, expanded and modernised, the goal remains the same: making customers happy. Klaas: “The strength to our company is that we take good care of our people and we continuously challenge them. This way, we produce the most beautiful and most delicious products, time and time again”.
Klaas walks around the bakery in Apeldoorn with a smile from ear to ear. He is visibly proud of the family company and their high-quality products. “Wherever you come from, you immediately recognise the unique Fuite taste in our products. For example, our raisin buns are unique due to their subtle citrus flavour. We try to be innovative and different, without losing sight of the core of the bakery business. Not only is the taste unique, but the way in which we present our products also typifies us. Everyone works with enthusiasm and applies creativity in a different way. This brings our products “to life”. Something happens. We love seeing this, and our customers do too. Customers come looking for us. We share the same passion and ideas. We both choose quality products, that’s the most important link”.
In 1996, the HACCP became legally required in The Netherlands. From that moment on, quality became more important than ever before and ensuring it became part of the corporate culture. Also at Fuite. “Quality is priority number one for us. It’s our strength, and we want to keep it that way as much as possible. We believe that a QA manager can never be responsible for the entire production process. That’s why we keep quality close to the work floor. Every employee is responsible for the quality of the products and the production process. At the time, we needed help in realising and maintaining this quality vision. We found this help at KTBA”.
“We especially noticed that a gap existed between the continuously changing regulations and the knowledge of our employees. We asked our people to guarantee quality, but they couldn’t keep up-to-date with the changes in standards, laws and rules in the area of quality assurance. So, we needed knowledge and skills, but we were mainly looking for a company that fit well with us. We always act on our gut feeling, which needs to feel right. Jurgen de Jong, founder of KTBA, was a family acquaintance. We trusted the collaboration immediately. He was not only our quality adviser, but also our friend. A unique and effective combination.
After the passing away of Jurgen, the collaboration continued. Successfully. “We’ve been building enthusiastically now on the same goal for almost twenty years already. That creates a bond. Thanks to KTBA, we stay connected with our people and with (trends in) quality. A concrete example is that consultants advised us to split our production into zones, and for each zone to appoint a responsible employee. This creates ownership. In practice, this works really well. Thanks to some useful tricks, the production is always clean, organised and tidy. We often hear this from visitors. Those are the compliments we all do it for, together”.
“The best part about the collaboration with KTBA is the flexibility. We can ask questions or ask for advice or a quick sparring session, at any time. Moreover, feedback is always communicated in a positive way, so that everyone in the company understands what needs to be changed and also supports the improvements. The audits are the best moments for us. That’s our moment to shine and show how we work with passion and enthusiasm. We are convinced that even with the expansion plans we have, our future audits will be met with flying colours, thanks to KTBA. A golden tip: don’t focus on what something costs, but on what you get. In our case, this is a wonderful family business with a level of quality to be proud of”.