The only maker of crepes in New Zealand, Van Dyck Fine Foods, which is based in New Plymouth, is looking at new opportunities in Canada and closer to home.
The company was started 10 years ago by Inge Vercammen and Marcel Naen, who immigrated from Belgium. They make hotcakes, blinis, corn fritters and gluten-free products.
Hotels, cafes and airlines buy their products, which are also sold in supermarkets throughout New Zealand and Australia, generating sales more than $4 million a year.
Mr Naen, a bakery engineer, and Ms Vercammen, then a pschyotherapist, had noticed on an earlier visit to New Zealand that one thing was missing: crepes.
So they decided to make New Zealand their home and set up a crepe-making business in New Plymouth.
But the first hurdle, says Mrs Vercammen, was to teach New Zealanders about their beloved treat. No one here knew how to make them.
They started with hotcakes and business has bloomed over the past decade.
Their range of crepes, hotcakes and blinis is now used by airlines, supermarkets and caterers. They also export a container load of gluten-free products to Australia each month.
The financial crisis put an end to exports to Thailand and Germany, so Ms Vercammen says they are now looking at opportunities in Canada and closer to home.
They also plan to grow sales to hotels, cafes and caterers within New Zealand.
The company made a profit of about $700,000 last year.
