Interview Willem Jan Hoogland - owner of the Dutch Shop

Can you introduce yourself and what you do?

My name is Willem Jan Hoogland, and I've been living in Hong Kong for 19 years. I'm a tax lawyer and a locally qualified solicitor. I run a firm called HKWJ Tax Law Partners, which focuses on tax advisory but also provides corporate services. In addition, I run the Dutch Shop, an online retail business bringing Dutch and European food products to Hong Kong.

How did you get involved with the Dutch Shop?

About a year and a half ago, the previous owners of the Dutch Shop, approached me to see if I'd be interested in taking over. Initially, I hesitated because retail and trade are quite different from the services industry I’m used to. But at some point, I thought: why not? I took over the shop and now we're nearly two years in.  

Honestly, it is a lot more work than I expected, especially in terms of purchasing, figuring out what to buy, setting prices, and determining what's appealing to the Dutch community. Having said that, we quickly realized that the shop needs broader appeal than just the Dutch community, which is relatively small. While we carry a lot of traditional Dutch products like "stroopwafels" and "frikandellen", our vision is to expand our range with more widely appreciated or neutral European products.  

What kind of customers do you serve?

We have a wide variety of customers. Some customers come specifically for nostalgic Dutch candy like "laurierdrop", others for biscuits, or even peanut butter and "hagelslag". At the same time, I’m happy to see many local Chinese and other non-Dutch expats who buy products either for personal use or as gifts, for example, for Father's day

Next to individual customers, we serve businesses, hotels, and organizations, supplying snacks for office pantries and working with universities and consulates for cultural events. For example, we supply Dutch events like Sinterklaas from the Dutch Association, and we even provide "tompoucen", made locally by a friend, for special occasions like King's Day.

How do you reach these customers?

We have a marketing person, who handles the Dutch Shop among other responsibilities. He's currently optimizing the website in both English and Chinese to reach a broader audience, particularly the local Chinese market.

We focus on digital channels like Facebook and Instagram for advertising and we have a weekly newsletter for promotion. SEO is another important pillar in our marketing strategy, so we're optimizing our online visibility through search engines.

Right now, most of our marketing is internal and digital. What we're really missing is a business developer that goes out on the streets, physically meets potential clients, and introduces our products.

What are your most popular products?

Frozen items are amongst our top sellers, like Mora (mini) "frikandellen" and Van Dobben "rundvlees bitterballen". Other top products are Tony's Chocolonely, Unox "pea soup", Unox "Gelderse rookworst", "stroopwafels", chocolate milk, and peanut butter.

We are still in a testing phase, figuring out which products work and who our core customers are. So, for now, we aim to offer as broad as an assortment as possible to test the market.

How do you handle sourcing and logistics?

I focus on buying directly from producers instead of purchasing at wholesalers. For example, we buy Tony Chocolonely straight from the brand. This way, we can buy in smaller amounts, unlike at a wholesaler where you often must buy in bulk. Additionally, we can keep the purchase price as low as possible.

In the Netherlands, my parents help me with packing. Sometimes, I go there myself. We ship everything by air from Amsterdam to Hong Kong, and a local logistics company delivers the products to our storage. After people place an order online, we prepare the packages. If they choose self pick-up, it is usually available within an hour. For delivery, we use SF Express, a local courier which delivers typically within two days.

How do you deal with import regulations and food safety in Hong Kong?

We comply with all necessary import requirements. Of course, we declare what's coming in and customs checks are quite regularly. We never import products that need specific licenses, like raw meat, but we do hold a license from the Food and Health Department, which allows us to legally operate and import food.  

How do you minimize food waste?

Food waste is a concern. In Hong Kong, it is not that easy to donate expired products because many locals are unfamiliar with Dutch products. So, we try to optimize purchasing to avoid overstocking. For fresh products like cheese, "ossenworst", "gele vla" and "chocolade vla", we only stock in very small quantities. For dry and frozen goods, the shelf life is long, and Dutch people are okay with using products past their "best by" date. In our newsletter we promote these products that are almost reaching their expiration date to minimize food waste.

Have you experienced growth since taking over?

Yes! We see steady growth with more products, a bigger marketing campaign, more efficient logistics and a growing customer base. There's a steady number of recurring customers, as well as new customers every week.

Are you planning to expand?

Yes, we are expanding to Singapore and China. We have received demand and personal requests from both countries. Shipping to Singapore is relatively easy but China is trickier due to import tariffs and additional shipping costs drive up the prices. So, people often buy in bulk when they come to Hong Kong and take it back with them. Our goal is to reduce costs while meeting the demand in Singapore and China.