Group aims to convey ‘adventurous’ character and distinguish own identity from that of its subsidiaries, which include Olympic Fruit
Dutch company Olympic Food Group has changed its name to Fruitful Ventures.
With a new company name, refreshed positioning, and a modern logo, the company said it was taking “a significant step towards the future”.
The history of Fruitful Ventures dates back to 2001, when Thijs van den Heuvel founded one of its subsidiaries, Olympic Fruit.
“In the years that followed, more companies joined, including a bakery and a fruit-cutting business,” says Lennart van den Heuvel, who took over as chief executive from his father Thijs in 2018.
“This ultimately led to the establishment of Olympic Food Group as a shared service centre in 2012, which allowed support services such as finance, HR, and IT to be organised centrally, and enabled the companies to focus entirely on their core activities.”
Loes Al, marketing manager at Fruitful Ventures, says the rebranding is designed to reflect more accurately the nature of its business operation, and the fact that Fruitful Ventures aims to be a partner for growers all over the world, one that offers a destination for virtually every size or class of product.
“Changing a company name and developing a new identity is not an goal in itself,” she explains. “However, if we were to do this again, now would be the right time. Olympic Food Group was a name that wasn’t very strong and also caused confusion with Olympic Fruit, one of our companies.”
The name Fruitful Ventures was chosen to convey the group’s adventurous spirit, and also that of its entrepreneurial CEO.
“We aim to achieve results that benefit everyone, today and in the future,” Al continues. “Our pay-off, ‘growing together worldwide’, reinforces this message. The new logo, inspired by the cycles of nature and the seasons, radiates optimism and reflects the core values of Fruitful Ventures.”
Entire chain
The group now comprises trading companies Olympic Fruit, Hoofdman and Roodzant, Fresh Pride, Fresh Pride Serbia, Fresh Pride South Africa, and Fresh Pride Singapore, alongside logistics company Fresh Pack Logistics, cultivation arm Innofruit, and Half-Baked, which processes rejected products.
“Within our group, we are active throughout the entire fruit supply chain,” Van den Heuvel continues.
“From our own cultivation activities to logistics, import/export, and residuals processing. The fact that we have our own in-house logistics with Fresh Pack Logistics is unique.
Additionally, we operate globally. Within the trading companies Olympic Fruit, Hoofdman-Roodzant, and Fresh Pride, we work with specialised teams. This gives us extensive knowledge of local markets. When we combine that local expertise, we have a wealth of expertise available worldwide.”
