Born in Gouda, Michel pursued a degree in Industrial Engineering after completing secondary education. He subsequently held positions as team leader and production manager in a wide range of industrial environments. His career started in the printing industry, followed by roles in steel manufacturing and conveyor belt production, before he built extensive experience in the dairy sector. “On paper, my background may seem quite diverse, but to me the similarities stand out,” Michel explains. “In every production environment, it ultimately revolves around people, processes, methods and materials. Creating customer value depends on keeping those four elements in balance.”
Broadening horizons
Prior to joining Vreugdenhil, Michel worked as a production manager at a dairy company, where he led a workforce of three hundred employees operating in three shifts. In 2023, he made the move to Vreugdenhil. “After managing a large production team, I was looking for broader responsibility. Being operationally accountable for an entire production site felt like a logical next step.” That site became Barneveld — a location Michel is happy to talk about, while also tempering expectations. “For dairy farmers expecting to see a traditional milk processing plant, Barneveld may come as a surprise.” Barneveld is not a so‑called ‘wet’ production site. In fact, the only liquid milk entering the facility is poured during lunch breaks. Around sixty employees focus on processing, storing and packaging dry dairy powders. “Many colleagues have been working together for years. Barneveld offers a stable and close‑knit working environment, where craftsmanship is valued and people tend to stay because of the strong collaboration.”
Standardisation and flexibility
At the Barneveld plant, milk powder is standardised, blended — for example with cocoa — and homogenised. “We maintain a core assortment in stock,” Michel explains. “This allows us to support our other production sites.” He gives an example: “In Gorinchem, we produce a dedicated powder for a customer in Hamburg. That customer wants the product available on call, with short lead times. In Barneveld, we load a truck and can deliver the product to the port city in northern Germany within a day.”
Packaging tailored to customer needs
The Barneveld facility supplies dairy powders to manufacturers of chocolate, sauces, bakery products and ice cream. “We quickly respond to our customers’ specific requirements, always with a strong focus on service,” Michel says. “If a customer prefers an 800‑kilogram big bag instead of a one‑ton bag, we simply arrange it.” Most customers are based in Europe, value short delivery times and have clearly defined packaging preferences. “One customer requests big bags on wooden pallets, while another prefers plastic load carriers. These kinds of specific requirements are exactly what we are good at, and what we enjoy.”
"We quickly respond to our customers’ specific requirements, always with a strong focus on service."
Michel van der Bruggen, plant director Barneveld
Central location
“Thanks to our central location in the Netherlands, positioned between our larger production sites, Barneveld functions as a flexible, service‑oriented buffer within the Vreugdenhil network,” Michel explains. “Our plants work closely together to process milk volumes as efficiently as possible.”
“When milk supply temporarily exceeds market demand, our sites in Gorinchem and Scharsterbrug can process milk into powder, which is then stored in our warehouse in Barneveld. We wait for the right moment to bring that product to market.” Michel compares the system to a domestic heating installation. “If you look at Vreugdenhil as an integrated system, Barneveld is the expansion vessel. We help absorb fluctuations, maintain balance and combine that buffering role with specialised services.”
Additional pallet spaces
Following an expansion completed in the summer of 2024, the Barneveld site gained an additional eleven thousand pallet positions. The new warehouse is equipped with a shuttle system, electrically powered storage solutions and custom‑designed racking. By centralising the storage of milk powders, Vreugdenhil reduces transport by roughly one thousand truck movements per year. “Previously, we relied on external storage locations,” Michel explains. “That resulted not only in additional rental costs, but also in extra transport movements.” After expanding its warehouse capacity in Barneveld, Vreugdenhil closed the former warehouse and original head office in Voorthuizen. “Apartments now stand on the site where our milk powder used to be stored.”
Innovation as a constant process
The new warehouse aligns seamlessly with Vreugdenhil’s sustainability achievements. The Barneveld plant operates fully electrically and has been certified climate‑neutral since 2022. All buildings are gas‑free, and the roofs are covered with solar panels. Is the site future‑proof? “Absolutely,” Michel says, smiling. “But a production environment is never truly finished.” In the coming years, Barneveld will undergo a significant digital upgrade. The control system of the production tower is due for replacement. The programmer who knows the existing system inside out is nearing retirement, and several components are reaching the end of their technical lifespan. At the same time, new automation technologies offer clear opportunities to further optimise the plant.
Building long‑term relationships
The re‑automation project will take place while production continues uninterrupted. “Our customers won’t notice anything, except for the continued reliability they expect from us,” Michel says. “That’s exactly how it should be.” “Taking the burden off our customers is, in a nutshell, what we do. Whether it concerns lead times, product recipes, packaging formats or supply reliability, this approach is what enables the long‑term partnerships that are so characteristic of Vreugdenhil’s DNA.”
About Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods
Since 1954, we have operated as a Dutch family business in the dairy sector. Every day, we work hard to make all the goodness of milk available to people around the world. We specialize in milk powder, with four production sites in Gorinchem, Scharsterbrug, Barneveld, and Putten, a head office in Nijkerk, and a commercial office in Madrid (Spain). Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods processes 1.5 billion kilograms of milk into high-quality nutritional products and ingredients, which we export to 130 countries. Our ingredients for the food industry are mainly sold in Europe. Consumer milk powder is primarily exported to Africa and the Middle East. Our more specific applications make their way to the Asian market. Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods employs over 500 people and has an annual turnover of approximately €1.1 billion.
