New markets and products for Royal Polak

The scent of Royal Polak lingers through Steenwijk… it is the smell of cinnamon for which the company is well-known. In 2024, Royal Polak celebrates its 170th anniversary and will open its doors on October 18th to IFFI members on the second day of the masterclass ‘AI in Commerce’. To confidently face the next 170 years, Polak is seeking out new products and markets.

Autumn has arrived, and you can see it in Dutch stores, where kruidnoten and speculaas are now on the shelves. There’s a good chance that Royal Polak’s speculaas spices are used in these products. Polak specializes in cinnamon. It’s a relatively small company with around 40 employees. But within this niche, Polak is one of the most important traders. “We place great emphasis on quality,” says director Hielke van Dijken, who has been leading the company since 2017. “We source the cinnamon ourselves, mainly from Indonesia, and increasingly from Vietnam, working with local exporters with whom we have a long-standing relationship.” Polak employs blenders who ensure that all spice blends maintain the same flavour and quality. “Harvests vary, not only in quality but also in taste. This is also true for coffee, for example. Just as coffee blenders ensure a consistent blend, we do the same for cinnamon.”

Red tin can
Polak primarily supplies to (pastry) bakers, ranging from the local artisan baker to the industrial bakery. “We only supply B2B, to professional users. Our cinnamon and spice blends are of much higher quality than the blends you find in supermarkets. We sell our products in the iconic red tin can, featuring our logo with the iconic church tower of Steenwijk. That tin represents quality.”

New markets
Polak is, however, looking for new markets. “We are developing new products to secure our future. As a company, you must always be open to change, explore opportunities, and keep up with the times. Our new products will be closely related to cinnamon. They must fit our identity, with who we are. ‘A spice trader should stick to his mill,’ as I would say.”

Regulations
The biggest challenge for Polak are the increasingly strict regulations for food products. “The entire food industry faces this challenge. For us, when regulations tighten, we need to sit down with the local exporters to see how we can ensure compliance.”

Artificial Intelligence
At Royal Polak, there isn’t much use of Artificial Intelligence yet. “We still work quite traditionally here, but we recently hired a marketer who may introduce this new technology. As a company, we are open to it. We have to be – you must keep evolving.” That is also one of the reasons for joining IFFI. “We are just a small company, so it makes sense to join a network. So far, we’ve attended a few events, and it has certainly paid off.”

Image credits: Steenwijker Courant

Hielke van Dijken
Managing Director Polak Spices