On February 3, 2025, Foodello hit a big milestone – three years in the Netherlands! But what did it take to expand to a completely new market and launch our brand ‘Foodello’? How did we grow from being a “never-heard-of” company in the Netherlands to rescuing millions of kilos of food? A person who knows all about this, is Bas Dekker, our Head of Marketing and one of the first employees outside of Finland. Read on to hear more about his experiences and lessons on this journey!
In 2021 we were just about to launch our new market under the brand Foodello in the Netherlands. That’s when Bas Dekker decided to also take a leap of faith and join our team – a Finnish company that he had never heard of before. “Once I learned about the mission to fight food waste, I was all in. It just made sense – saving money for customers while also helping the planet. The idea of making a real, tangible impact was motivating. And still is to this day” he says.
“It just made sense – saving money for customers while also helping the planet. The idea of making a real, tangible impact was motivating. And still is to this day.”
Now, three years later, Bas plays a key role as Head of Marketing in the Netherlands, overseeing the company’s marketing operations in both the Netherlands and Belgium while leading the marketing team. In addition, he has taken on new responsibilities, like being a spokesperson for the company externally. “It’s been a learning experience but I am really happy that I took the leap and joined this journey three years ago”, he says.
While we have evolved as a company, the world around us has also changed. From the business side, we’ve made a radical shift toward profitability instead of the rapid growth we were aiming for back in 2021, which has reshaped the way we operate. “It’s been a big change in how we operate. We’ve had to be smarter about our marketing, prioritize carefully, and build a strong, connected team. I feel this is the smart way to do things”, Bas explains.
Let’s take a step back and hear where it all started!
Getting started with building brand recognition and customer acquisition in the Netherlands wasn’t easy. “Foodello was a brand no one knew”, Bas says. “We had to build everything from the ground up – setting up operations and earning people’s trust.”
Those early efforts have paid off in a big way. Today, Foodello has:
Recently Bas got to experience the brand recognition first hand at a local train station. “I was going to an event and was carrying a Foodello box with our saved goods, and a train conductor stopped me to say how much he loved the brand. It caught me off guard but really lifted my mood”, he recalls smiling.
While it’s clear that Foodello is gaining recognition, Bas believes there’s still more ground to cover. “There are so many people we haven’t reached yet. We have a big opportunity to spread the word about fighting against food waste and how everyone can contribute.”
One of the unexpected challenges for Bas and the team was building the same strong company culture in the Netherlands as we already had in Finland. “Starting in a new market while being part of a Finnish company and working mostly remotely made building the culture harder than I anticipated,” Bas admits. Naturally, our team in Finland had existed for a longer time and established a strong culture. “When you’re not in the central organization or market, it’s surprisingly challenging to replicate that environment”, he explains.
However, these challenges haven’t gone unnoticed. Bas notes that the leadership team is taking action to strengthen our unified culture and employee experience. “It’s essential because strong connections and culture are crucial for success”, he adds.
On the business side, one of the largest learnings revolved around finding and defining Foodello’s unique brand identity. “When we first started, we copied elements from Finland’s model. For example, the idea that customers love saving money and reducing food waste. While that’s true, it wasn’t specific enough for our market”, Bas explains. Over time, the team realized they needed a more distinct voice. “Looking back, I wish we had dug deeper into defining our brand earlier because knowing who you are makes everything easier.”
Bas and the team have now started to discover a new interesting angle to the brand positioning. “Shopping at Foodello is like a treasure hunt. Our changing assortment can seem unpredictable, but that’s actually exciting. It’s shopping that it’s fun and guilt-free! You're saving food and doing something good”, he explains.
Over the past three years, Bas has identified three key areas that have helped him to ensure success:
Leadership has been a major focus for Bas. “I realized early on that solving every problem myself wasn’t scalable. I needed to focus on empowering my team to succeed.” This shift in mindset meant being critical about team roles, creating a clear structure, and enabling team members to shine in their own areas. “My goal is to make sure the team can deliver great results without having to rely on me for every decision”, Bas says.
With a small team and limited resources, one of our key values ‘ruthless prioritization’ has been a key to Bas. “There’s never enough time or money to do it all, so we’ve had to focus on what’s truly essential to the business. It’s about choosing what to focus on but even more choosing what to not focus”, Bas explains.
Bas loves data and sees the value of it to drive decisions across the marketing team. “Our company was founded by engineers, so the emphasis on data has always been there. Over the past year, I have worked to bringing even more emphasis on data into marketing, making it accessible and applicable to every team member. With advancements like AI, there’s so much potential to automate tasks and use insights to work smarter. I want us to be ready for what’s next”, he says.
Looking back, what are you most proud of, Bas?
“Definitely when we pivoted from a growth-focused strategy to building a sustainable business model. It wasn’t easy, but we made it happen. This required a lot of resilience from our team that I am really proud”, he says.
In addition, he notes the commitment to our mission that is seen in the heart of everyone working in the Foodello–Fiksuruoka team. “It’s so easy to lose sight of why we started when you’re focused on numbers or day-to-day operations. But we’ve consciously brought our mission to fight against food waste back to the forefront of everything we do.” 💚
“It’s so easy to lose sight of why we started when you’re focused on numbers or day-to-day operations. But we’ve consciously brought our mission to fight against food waste back to the forefront of everything we do.”
On a personal note, Bas is eager to keep growing as a leader. “I want to continue empowering my team, refining our processes, and exploring new ways to push the boundaries of marketing. The past three years have been an incredible ride, and I can’t wait to see what’s next!”
So, for anyone considering taking on a similar challenge and joining a scaling company, Bas has simple advice: “Go for it! Sure, it might be more comfortable to join an established company, but you’d be missing out on the excitement and fulfillment of building something new. Yes, the unknown can be scary, but the rewards far outweigh the risks.”