Looking back at 2022 by Managing Director Jos Derijk
Dear all,
The year is rapidly nearing its end again. A time to start forging new plans, but also a time for reflection. It was a wonderful year with great projects, new initiatives, and great successes. But it was also a year of nervousness, uncertainty, and new challenges. Because we cannot ignore it, the impact of the global developments/tensions was also felt by us. Nonetheless, together we have once again stepped up to the plate and I look back at 2022 with satisfaction.
Where we slowly crawled out of the global pandemic early this year, we were faced with the terrible war in Ukraine, and its consequences. Think of the material scarcity that has left us struggling with long delivery times and increased procurement prices or energy costs that have risen disproportionately. I do not want to dwell long on the consequences, but I think it is important to have mentioned it, as it remains the harsh reality.
Let’s focus above all on the successes and milestones achieved, because there are plenty of them! We have once again conducted business in over 30 countries, and we continue to be incredibly proud of that as a local manufacturing company. To ensure the same success in the coming years, we certainly not sat still. We have further developed several machines, including a French fries line for the starting entrepreneur. Moreover, we can now control entire production lines from a central point via an HMI screen. Meaning, we can now serve the customer fully in-house from concept to realization.
It was also the year of firsts within Marcelissen. In April, for instance, we opened our doors to the general public. During the Dag van de Maakindustrie (Day of the Manufacturing Industry), interested visitors from all over the region stopped by to take a look behind the scenes. It was such a success (rated 9.08😊) that we will open our doors again next year. Furthermore, we also started the ” Sportief Marcelissen” initiative after the summer. This is a weekly sports hour so that we can all stay fit and end our first working day of the week feeling nice and fulfilled. But the biggest scoop is surely the introduction of our own food truck “Frites Art”. This food truck serves the best fresh unpeeled fries in Venlo and the surrounding area. So be sure to follow us online, or even more fun and delicious, book us!
Besides hard work, relaxation and fun are also incredibly important. And fun it has been this past year! On Carnival Friday, for instance, we went to the city centre of Venlo together. Fantastic to be there and celebrate something like that together. But also our company event in Swalmen, the quarterly drinks, jubilees, and weekly office drinks were a success. And we end the year with a delicious Christmas dinner together. So there was certainly no lack of companionship this year!
Finally, I would like to highlight our employees who work with the utmost dedication and passion within our company every day. Because crisis after crisis also impacts our people. Nevertheless, everyone has made a hugely positive contribution to the successes and new developments, and I am very proud of that. Our (graduate) interns who have really become part of the team have also made an impact on our organization and I would like to thank them too for their efforts.
Looking ahead, 2023 promises to be a fantastic year. We can’t say much about it yet, but there are some big pending announcements! Together with our customers, partners, and agents, we are going to have another fantastic year!
I wish everyone happy holidays and a happy and especially healthy 2023.
With kind regards,
Jos Derijk
Managing Director
