Overview
In Aalten, farmers traditionally churned their own butter and sold it to local shopkeepers. This changed in 1896 with the establishment of the Aalten Co-operative Dairy Factory (ACZ), better known locally as the Boterfabriek, on the initiative of A.P. Slicher van Bath. The factory saved farmers an enormous amount of work, allowing them to devote more time to other tasks. The quality of the butter also improved considerably.
The first meeting to investigate the possibility of establishing a co-operative dairy factory took place on 27 December 1895. It was held on the initiative of A.P. Slicher van Bath, chairman of the Aalten branch of the Gelders-Overijsselse Maatschappij van Landbouw. A decision was soon made to form a co-operative in which each hamlet of Aalten would be represented by two members.
The organisers moved quickly. By deed dated 21 February 1896, the co-operative was formally established before Aalten notary P. Losecaat Vermeer. Slicher van Bath was appointed chairman. The other board members were W.F. te Bokkel, H.W. Westendorp, C. Tolkamp, H. Lammers, W. Rosier, E. Scheffer, W. Lammers, Joh. Obbink, R. van der Wint, J.W. Klein Poelhuis and G.J. Hoftijzer.
Construction and expansion
A garden in the Kemena area was purchased from Mr Arentzen and construction of the factory building was put out to tender. Including machinery, the investment came to 18,000 guilders. The money was raised by issuing bonds and shares of ten guilders each. The building was completed in the summer of 1896. The first director was R. de Jong, though he held the position for only a year and a half before being succeeded by G. de Vries.
The first milk was received on 21 September 1896. During the first weeks, between 2,600 and 2,800 litres of milk were delivered. Initially, most of the butter produced was sold to England. Milk deliveries continued to grow over the years, making repeated expansion of the factory necessary.
Theft
On the night of 6–7 May 1920, more than 14,000 guilders was stolen from a safe in director De Vries’s office. After months of investigation by the judicial authorities and the Marechaussee into this widely discussed case, a genuine undercover operation eventually led to the arrest and conviction of the two perpetrators.
The factory’s 40th anniversary was celebrated extensively in 1936. The dairy became particularly well known for its cheese production. The company closed in 1976.
Supermarket
Lambertus Kip ran a small ELKA supermarket on Hogestraat. The name ELKA came from the founder’s initials, L.K. Kip wanted to expand his business substantially and bought the former dairy factory for more than one million guilders. He converted the building into an Elka Giganta supermarket.
The supermarket opened on 7 September 1978. Every resident received a pen-and-ink drawing of the old Roomboterfabriek. In 1980, the management style and an attempt to impose compulsory staff shopping arrangements led to an occupation of the Aalten branch by the Dienstenbond FNV trade union.
The dispute damaged the business and it was sold to Albeda Jelgersma of wholesaler Unigro. An Almarkt supermarket then opened on the site, later becoming Super Hendriks and eventually Super de Boer. After Jumbo took over the business, the former dairy buildings were demolished in 2012 to make way for new premises for Jumbo and Aldi supermarkets.
Address history
Population register 1900–1910
Aalten 98/1 > A118
Population register 1910–1920
Aalten A118 > A120
1934 address directory
Aalten A120 > Admiraal de Ruijterstraat 10
Butter factory
1967 address directory
Admiraal de Ruyterstraat 10
Co-operative dairy factory
Owners
This overview is not complete.
| Year | Plot | Owner | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| m² |