Koman's Vishandel appreciates Laudam's quick switching

In the Moerdijk harbor area, the business premises of Koman's Vishandel are located on the Hollands Diep, with an adjacent shop where enthusiasts can go for a nice assortment of fresh fish. Koman is a real fishing family from Werkendam. “My great-grandfather started fishing for freshwater fish and eel in the Biesbosch in 1918. Soon there was more demand than was caught and that's how the trade was established,” says Jaco Koman.

Both live and frozen fish are delivered from all over the world every day. “Fishermen along the Dutch and Belgian coast and wholesalers provide the supply, and we also have our own fishing company. With two boats we fish on the Hollands Diep, mainly roach, zander and bream. All fresh fish is processed by us and then you are talking about filleting, portioning and packaging. The frozen fish arrives ready-made and is processed into slices according to the customer's wishes.”

Eel is an important product for the successful family business. “We buy the eel from fishermen and farms. Here they are sorted according to size and - cleaned or smoked - transported to our customers by refrigerated truck. Everything has to be good and fast, because the freshness of the fish has to be preserved.” The permanent team consists of about 40 employees. “Most people have been with us for years. If the work requires it, we use extra people and we hire them from Laudam. We have been doing this since 2006.” Laudam employees are deployed for various activities. “They help with the cleaning and packaging of fish, but also with the cleaning of work areas and the tankers. De accountmanager is our permanent point of contact and she knows exactly what we need. It's simple for us, we just have to call and a temporary worker is there. Sometimes one, then nothing for a while and on heydays suddenly four at the same time. Laudam offers us the flexibility we need.”