In the meat industry, one thing is certain: today’s production schedule may already be outdated tomorrow. A meat promotion in a supermarket leaflet, the approaching holiday season or a sudden change in the product range. In these situations, you need a staffing partner that doesn’t simply supply workers, but provides the right people at the right time and in accordance with the regulations.
For around 13 years, meat processing company Van Loon in Beilen has relied on Flexspecialisten to do exactly that. It’s time to look back and ahead together with team leader Alyssia Holmen.
A production facility that delivers every day
Van Loon Noord in Beilen packages meat for Dutch supermarkets. Production is divided into three main categories: beef products such as steaks, braising beef and soup meat; minced meat products such as sausages, hamburgers and minced beef; and an exclusive range of premium cuts, including ribeye and entrecôte. Most products are supplied to Jumbo, while the facility in the north of the Netherlands also delivers to Plus and Hoogvliet.
For team leader Alyssia Holmen, every working day begins with the same questions. “What are we going to do today? How much are we going to produce? How many packages do we need to prepare?” Planning, forecasting and managing permanent employees are at the heart of her responsibilities. To achieve this every day, approximately 110 Flex workers work alongside around 150 permanent employees, almost all of them through Flexspecialisten. “That helps us enormously in managing both peak periods and quieter times.”
“That helps us enormously in managing both peak periods and quieter times.”
Climbing every step of the career ladder
Alyssia knows the partnership from both sides. She originally joined as a temporary worker through Flexspecialisten and received a permanent contract in 2017 at what was then called Meat Friends. “I really started at the bottom,” she explains. “First I worked in packaging, then I operated a machine, became a point of contact on the production floor and eventually became a team leader. I’ve experienced almost every aspect of the operation.”
This career path is not unusual at Van Loon Noord. Every year, an agreed number of Flex workers move into permanent employment. This is a deliberate arrangement that gives employees opportunities for the future while ensuring the flexible workforce remains sufficiently staffed. These are often people who have been working at the company for some time and have taken the next step in their development, for example by learning to operate machinery.
The right match from day one
What makes a staffing partner successful in the meat industry? According to Alyssia, three things matter most: good communication, reliable staffing and the quality of the workers. “Our work isn’t always particularly complicated. But basic hygiene and basic communication are genuinely important.”
Anyone working with international employees knows that finding the right match is not always straightforward. Does the job suit the employee, and does the employee suit the company? When recruiting from abroad, this can be difficult to assess in advance, especially when someone is leaving their home country and familiar surroundings for a new job. “You bring these people here, and you want to offer them a place where they can work,” says Alyssia. That’s why careful selection and good communication between the client and staffing agency are at least as important as providing workers quickly.
Alongside international recruitment, Flexspecialisten and Van Loon Noord recently launched a new recruitment initiative aimed at candidates who already live in the Netherlands, including many Ukrainians. This creates opportunities for both sides: candidates are interviewed personally on-site beforehand, are already familiar with life in the Netherlands and can be available immediately when extra workers are needed. “So far, it has worked out really well,” says Alyssia.
Scaling up without the panic
The busiest periods at Van Loon are December and the summer months. Summer is particularly difficult to predict: as soon as the weather improves, demand for barbecue meat increases significantly. “Suddenly you need twenty extra people. And they’re not standing outside the gate waiting,” says Alyssia.
Nevertheless, scaling up production over the past year has gone remarkably smoothly. Thanks to an established pool of motivated workers, Flexspecialisten can quickly provide additional staff when demand suddenly increases. And this is becoming increasingly important: now that Jumbo is running meat promotions again, production needs to adapt more frequently and more quickly.
“Suddenly you need twenty extra people. And they’re not standing outside the gate waiting.”
Investing in skilled workers
A production line cannot run on packaging workers alone. “You can have plenty of production workers who know how to package products on the line, but if nobody knows how to start the machine, they’re not much use,” says Alyssia. That’s why Van Loon provides internal training for Flex workers who show potential, helping them develop into Operators. This role requires accuracy and attention to detail, including quality checks, administration and ensuring every package has the correct label.
Everything properly arranged
In an industry under close scrutiny, reliability means more than simply providing workers on time. Flexspecialisten is preparing its operations to meet the requirements of the WTTA (Dutch Labour Supply Admission Act), so clients such as Van Loon can rely on matters including employee accommodation and payroll being managed in accordance with the regulations. This allows Van Loon Noord to focus on what matters most: delivering the right products to its customers every day.
A partner, not just a supplier
Flexspecialisten doesn’t operate from a distance. It is present directly in Beilen. With its own in-house office on-site, communication is quick and straightforward. Questions about planning, work schedules or new employees are handled directly at the workplace by people who understand both the production process and the Flex workers.
“It’s a genuine partnership,” says Alyssia. “If we have a problem, we simply walk in and ask: can we do things differently? The people from Flexspecialisten who work here really feel like colleagues.” The same applies the other way around: if something comes up at Flexspecialisten, Van Loon helps find a solution.
13 years of partnership, 110 Flex workers and a production operation that needs to adapt to seasonal demand and supermarket promotions. Van Loon Noord proves that with the right partner, flexible workers can become a reliable and lasting part of a company’s workforce.
“If we have a problem, we simply walk in and ask: can we do things differently? The people from Flexspecialisten who work here really feel like colleagues.”