Rademaker USA held the official grand opening of the Rademaker Experience Center, a nearly 50,000-square-foot facility that features a Radini laminator line and soon a Radini donut production line and eventually an artisan bread line. A soft opening was held last month where a few select customers were invited to test product on the installed Radini laminator line and tour the new facility. 

The company also celebrated the 40^th anniversary of Rademaker entering the North American market in 1984.

Local village officials along with customers, suppliers and baking industry professionals joined Rademaker USA employees and Gerard Muermans, Rademaker’s chief executive officer, as well as members of the Van Blokland family, which owns the company that’s based in the Netherlands.

Jeroen van Blokland, Rademaker’s owner, recalled Rademaker’s entry into the North American market and how the company had to adapt its equipment to US bakeries that operate around-the-clock compared with European bakeries, which typically ran a single shift a day in the 1980s.

As the European bakery market shifted to 24-hour production, Van Blokland said, Rademaker was well positioned to react to that market.

Eric Riggle, president, Rademaker USA, conducted a tour of the facility and outlined plans for the future, especially with the smaller Radini production lines that are designed for small- to mid-sized commercial bakeries.

In addition to the Radini lines, where bakers can test their products, the center provides North American customers with service engineers, systems integration and technical support and will strengthen the company’s spare part supply chain, Riggle said.