THE NETHERLAN
Rabobank
Foundation
increasingly
active
KaDO
Issue 7/Sep. 21, 1990 band
The Netherlands
- cheese land
From secretary to
Harvest Queen
Some examples of the international work done by the
Foundation in 1989:
Start-up capital for a farmers' cooperative in North-East Brazil.
A credit fund for fishery development in Honduras.
A training programme for the development of savings and
credit cooperatives in Uganda.
A start-up contribution for an agricultural school in Indonesia.
A contribution to a seminar for managers of cooperatives in
developing countries held in Nairobi.
The Rabobank Foundation
(Stichting Steun door Rabo-
banken) makes financial con-
tributions to projects in the
Netherlands and abroad. Out-
side the Netherlands this
mainly concerns setting up
savings and credit cooper
atives, while in the Nether
lands the Foundation supports
deprived groups in society.
The Rabobank Group's aim in
doing this is to give content to
its cooperative identity.
The Foundation is a continu-
ation of the Foundation for In
ternational Development Aid by
Boerenleenbanks in Eindhoven
and the Foundation 150 Years
Raiffeisen in Utrecht. These
gave support to the socially de
prived. They combined forces
when the two banks merged in
1972. The Eindhoven method,
in which the banks make an an-
nual contribution to the fund,
has been maintained. The con
tribution from the local banks is
the basis for continuity in the
Foundation's work. This contri
bution is voluntary. The Founda
tion asks the banks to give 1
In the case of projects in the
Netherlands the aim is to pro-
mote the social development of
deprived groups. An organiza-
tion can make a once-only call
on the Foundation for support
for such things as improving
the accessibility of buildings
and promoting sports events
for the handicapped. Activities
concerned with preventing
handicaps are also eligible for
a contribution. The Foundation
is both critical and careful in
assessing the applications.
Support is only given to pro
jects which are acceptable in
society as a whole. One-third of
the total amount availabie is al-
located for use in the Nether
lands, while two-thirds goes
abroad. In total, the Foundation
contributes to around a hun-
dred projects a year. Between
20,000 and 30,000 guilders is
generally given to each project.
This ensures a good spread
and results in something being
done in various corners of the
world. The number of applica
tions is still growing, with most
of them in the Netherlands
coming via member banks.
see a parade in which the floats
are decorated entirely with fruit.
Jolanda was selected from over
twenty candidates. Her duties
mainly consist of promoting the
Betuwe - the Dutch fruit-grow-
ing region - as the 'Fruit Garden
of the Netherlands'. Together
with her lady-in-waiting she will
visit all kinds of events and in-
stitutions, for example, old
people's homes.
On June 1 Executive Board member Frans Boons (right) left the Rabobank
Group. On that occasion the general managers of the foreign-baseü offic
es jointly presented him with a cheque for the Foundation.
per cent of their net profit every
year. The Foundation has be
tween 2.5 and 3 million guilders
to spend annually. That in-
cludes the doubling given by
Rabobank Nederland.
The Foundation grants subsidies
and starting-up subsidies to
make activities possible which
would not otherwise get off the
ground. Certain criteria are laid
down for this purpose. One of
them is that the project must
eventuaily be able to be self
supporting. The intention is
that a project should become
profitable, partly thanks to the
support from the Foundation. It
is not enough simply to make
use of the funds donated by
the Foundation, for continuity
must be ensured as well. The
Foundation also asks for re-
ports on progress.
Ask a foreigner to name a
typically Dutch product. The
chances are he'll almost cer-
tainly say cheese. And in fact
the Netherlands really is a land
of cheeses. The Dutch are
even nicknamed cheeseheads.
Every year, the Netherlands
produces more than 550 mil
lion kilograms of the yellow de-
licacy, 400 million kilograms of
which are exported, mainly to
other countries in Western
Europe. But Dutch cheese is also
eaten in countries such as Japan
and America. Rabobank is the
Tourists come to the Alkmaar cheese market
from far and near.
largest financier in this branch of
the agricultural industry.
Cheese making used to be
done on the farm. At the end of
the nineteenth century its manu-
facture moved into factories.
Nowadays 98 per cent of Dutch
cheese is factory-made. Cheese
making is, in fact, an example
of biotechnology. Ten litres of
milk are needed to produce one
kilo of cheese. Cheese is made
by causing milk to curdle.
Among other things, an en-
zyme-containing extract ob-
tained from calves' stomachs
is used for this purpose. When
this is added to the homogene-
ous milk it changes into a mix
ture of solid particles and fluid
which are separated
from each other. The
solid constituents
form the curds.
These are placed in a
cheese mould and
compressed. The
cheese then disap-
pears into a brine
bath for several
hours, after which it
is stored to allow it to
mature. During this
process a layer of
plastic is wound
round the cheeses
from time to time to protect the
rind from fungi. The cheeses
are turned regularly. Most
types have to mature for at
least four weeks. A so-called
'old' cheese has ripened for
ten months before it finds its
way to the consumer. The aver
age Dutchman eats no less than
ten kilos of cheese a year...
Jolanda van Alphen, a sec
retary in the Foreign Offices
Department of Rabobank Ne
derland, is the 1990 Harvest
Queen. For three months she
will be responsible for the re-
presentational side of the fruit
parade which is held in Tiel,
Central Netherlands.
On September 8, the Harvest
Fruit Parade was organized in
Tiel for the thirtieth time. No-
where else in the Netherlands
and Western Europe can you
