Want to learn more about what it takes to scale a business internationally and open a new market? What is it like to embark upon personal and professional growth alongside the business? Meet Bas Dekker, our Head of Marketing in the Netherlands, who has been a part of opening three markets for Foodello in just one year.
Bas Dekker, Head of Marketing at Foodello in the Netherlands
Bas Dekker joined Fiksuruoka–Foodello at the end of 2021 and played a crucial role in opening a new market – under our brand Foodello – in the Netherlands. In fact, he joined us as the first employee outside Finland!
“I had been dreaming about maybe becoming an entrepreneur so this role in a growing company with wide responsibilities fit me like a glove”, he says looking back. “And when I joined, I was basically told to go buy myself a laptop and a phone and find a place where we could set up our office”, he laughs.
Bas has been instrumental in not only opening and scaling our business in the Netherlands but also opening a new market in Belgium in March 2023. What has his journey to opening a new market in a neighboring country been like, and what has Bas learned along the way?
Bas had previously worked for an online travel agent. His skills lay in performance marketing which is quite a specific field of marketing. “Back then, I wanted to broaden my skills and develop a more generalist approach to marketing. In addition, I wanted to do marketing for a brand with a sustainable mission”, he says.
“I wanted to do marketing for a brand with a sustainable mission.”
Even though Bas was on the job hunt in 2021, when we contacted him and offered him this new career opportunity, it took a while to persuade him to join us. Looking back, Foodello was a “never-heard-of brand” for Bas – and we were looking to expand to a new country.
“But as I took a closer look at the business model, I was very impressed. It’s a win-win for customers: they save money and fight against food waste. So, the company's mission and the role as Head of Marketing pretty much ticked all the boxes”, he remembers.
What caught his eye in our company mission was that it was tangible and easy to understand. “Many people want to save the world of course but the question is often: “how?”. Here we are fighting against food waste at the supplier level which is quite a niche but also tangible and motivating”, he explains.
“Many people want to save the world of course but the question is often: “how?”. Here we are fighting against food waste at the supplier level which is quite a niche but also tangible and motivating”
What does a Head of Marketing do – especially when entering a new market?
“I am responsible for the overall Foodello brand in Belgium and the Netherlands. Together with my team, we try to build brand awareness through online and offline channels such as social media, radio, tv, newspapers, (online) magazines, and so on. Our approach to marketing is very data-driven, so I help my team to get relevant insights from different markets”, he explains.
On top of that, Bas also leads a team of three marketing professionals who have been contributing to the new market entries. “There is not a dull day in sight and I love it”, he laughs.
Once on board, Bas learned quite quickly that opening a new market comes with a set of exciting challenges. “Entering a new market requires investigating the habits of consumers in the other market”, he explains. In addition, you need to have a curious mindset and be prepared to test out different approaches
“Entering a new market requires investigating the habits of consumers in the other market.”
As Bas and his marketing team successfully contributed to opening the market in the Netherlands with more than 100 000 orders in right now, it was time for another challenge.
“In 2022 we started the expansion to the Belgian market. As Belgium has two main languages and language-specific regions, it was basically two different markets: French-speaking and Dutch-speaking”, he says.
First, in Flanders, a Dutch-speaking market, Bas’s role was basically to look at everything from the Dutch perspective. “In marketing materials, for example, I had to see if it made sense from the Dutch perspective”, he explains.
But in the French-speaking market, the task became much harder as Bas doesn’t speak the language too well. “Luckily I have French team members and I can rely on them in this market entry. Data is also essential and my team relies on this for decision-making”, he explains. Together with his team, they would for example test out different types of ads and content on the website to see what works and where.
“Data is essential and we rely on this for decision-making.”
Adding to the complexity of different languages, marketing campaigns and messages had to be carefully crafted to resonate with various cultural nuances in target markets. This was instrumental in creating successful campaigns that solidified Foodello's brand identity across borders.
Now, Bas and his team are operating marketing actions in all three markets: the Netherlands, Dutch-speaking, and French-speaking Belgian markets.
“It is definitely a challenge because there are different regulations in different markets which means we have to do marketing very differently depending on the region”, he says. But this is just what Bas wanted: he has broadened his marketing toolkit and skills to a great extent!
“There are different regulations in different markets which means you have to do marketing very differently”
Bas’s and his team’s tenacity and hands-on approach paid off as Foodello has now been capturing the hearts of the French-speaking Belgian food-waste warriors since March 2023. The right marketing strategies and an understanding of cultural preferences were at the core of this successful expansion.
And how does it feel to work for a Finnish company?
“I think Finnish and Dutch people are quite similar. We have a no-nonsense attitude in business and personal life. Marketing-wise it’s been fun to notice the differences between Finland and the Netherlands. Filter coffee is way more popular in Finland than it is over here for example”, he adds.
💚 Keep an open mind – You always assume that you know what your customers want and need, but let yourself be proven wrong along the way.
📈 Testing and looking at data is crucial – you don’t know if something is working or not if you never look back.
🌱 Growth isn’t always linear – it might look like that in a bigger picture but in daily life, it sometimes feels like a rollercoaster.
🛠️ Pay attention to building processes from the very beginning – if you are looking to scale the business, these are the building blocks for the future.
😌 Have patience – don't expect instant success overnight; it takes time to build awareness and gain traction in any type of market.