Day 1: FrieslandCampina & Gent

Monday morning 5.45 am, the alarm clock goes off… The last preparations for the study tour are being taken care of and the study tour is about to begin..

At 7.30 the last people arrived at station Groningen Noord, where our 'Er gaat niets boven Groningen' coach was leaving from.

Our ' prominent' coach seen through the windows of FrieslandCampina

After a 2,5 hour drive we arrived at the new research centre of FrieslandCampina in Wageningen. We were warmly welcomed by Ellen van Leusen, Dianne Delsing and Irene Kamp. They gave a nice presentation about FrieslandCampina does as a company. 

Fun fact: Did you know that FrieslandCampina is owned by over 19.000 farmers and it is one of the 5 largest dairy companies in the world?

After this introduction it was up to the FrieslandCampina group, Amber, Kirsten and Roosmarijn, to present their case. They gave a very interesting presentation and the company was really enthusiastic about their suggestions. After a vivid discussion with many company experts we were provided with an luxurious lunch. We got to taste the 'real deal', FrieslandCampina milk. 

We continued our company visit by an interactive experience in the lobby to get to know FrieslandCampina. The many movies where employees told us about FrieslandCampina in relation to their personal lives really showed us that openness of the company is a high priority. 

We were also taken on a tour around the offices and got to see the labs where the actual tasting panel sits. Fun fact: this tasting panel has to go through an extensive training of three months before they can actually taste the products. Dairy product tasting is a part-time job, 5 shifts of 3-hour-yoghurt-tasting a week. Yummm working as a professional dessert-taster!

To conclude the company tour we had a final question round with someone from HR to discuss career path options. It was very interesting to see how many 'roads' you can take to reach a certain position at a company. 

After the company visit we continued our journey to Gent. By bus we maneuvered our way through the narrow streets of Gent. We had high expectations of our first hostel of the study tour and our expectations were exceeded. The beds were as Chiel would say; 'Modern-Antique style'. The hostel was situated near the old city centre. We went out for diner at 'Resto Rood' and afterwards explored the nightlife of Gent. Under the influence of typical Belgium beers we spend our first evening together with laughter and games.