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Le Duc is a vegetarian appetizer business based in Stellendam, in the southwest of the Netherlands. Food Chain is joined by Mark Howarth, Head of UK Sales, who begins with the details of the company’ s origin story:“ Our founder, Dick den Hertog, started the business in 1998. He was the first person to introduce the popular American style of onion rings into Europe and the UK. We now produce and market tasty veggie snacks worldwide, but our focus remains predominantly on onion rings, cheese snacks, and coated vegetables. In 2006, we moved to our current facility in Stellendam to keep up with the growing demand. We have around 166 employees and supply more than 70 countries. We serve retail, food service businesses, business-to-business manufacturing, and quick-service restaurants( QSR).”
Mark then delves into the details of Le Duc’ s product range:“ We make all varieties of onion rings, including reformed, natural onion rings, battered, breaded, and beer battered. We also manufacture cheese appetizers, including nacho cheese bites, mozzarella sticks, chili cheese bites, macaroni cheese bites, Camembert bites, and Brie bites. All our products are a three-way cook; they can be oven-cooked, air-fried, or fried. Our coated vegetable lines include coated mushrooms, both standard and with garlic. We’ ve also recently added cauliflower bites, which consist of breaded cauliflower florets.”
The company has recently rebranded, to better reflect its current offering. Sophie Kardux from Le Duc’ s marketing department explains the motivations behind the move:“ We wanted to modernize our brand. The world is shifting towards more vegetarian
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