Stroopwafels should have a crisp exterior and a gooey caramel center. The one I bit into back in 2020 tasted like rubber. It didn’t have the crispiness and the flavors were—frankly—disgusting.
Everything about it was wrong.
Differences in American and Dutch Ingredients
It's well known that the Dutch Waffle Company has an over 200-year-old traditional recipe for stroopwafels. What we didn’t know when we finally made it to the U.S., was how different the ingredients are compared to what we had in the Netherlands.
The composition of the flour was completely different. Butter wasn’t the same. Margarine wasn’t the same. Caramel tasted wrong.
Our entire goal was to sell stroopwafels that were as fresh and delicious as what you can get in the Netherlands. But the U.S. didn’t have the key ingredients we needed to make a product that matched our standards. We needed to investigate the differences in ingredients and come up with a solution—fast—because not only were we dealing with product issues, we were also navigating a pandemic.
Perfecting Our Product During a Pandemic
That’s right. We moved to the States in 2019, and less than 4 months later we were on lockdown. We’d quit our jobs in the Netherlands to do this. We sold our house.
But here, we were stuck in our new home trying to figure out how to make our traditional recipe, over 200 years old, work.
I spent a lot of time calling flour producers in the Netherlands and asking about their products’ contents—how much protein? How much flour? All of those questions. Then I went to U.S. producers and asked if they offered any flours that were similar.
They didn’t and even told me that the specifications I gave them didn’t exist at all.
Finding the Grit to Get Through It
It wasn’t until 4 months later that I finally found a way to make our stroopwafel recipe on this side of the Atlantic. Today, our stroopwafels have the right texture and taste. They're true to the Dutch tradition, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
I tell this story for a few reasons.
1. The quality of our product matters to us—it always has, it always will.
2. The American Dream sounds simple, but it's been a long journey. At every turn, something unexpected happened—Visas got denied, ingredients were wrong, a 17 year old hit us while driving an antique sports car on a traffic light controlled junction on Ana Maria Island which shattered our physical well being…the list goes on. We’re so grateful we get to do what we do, but we’re also honest about the process. It’s been hard, and we’re still learning, and due to the accident, we are still facing daily pains and struggles.
3. We’re passionate about our mission to bring you fresh, authentic stroopwafels. If we weren’t–we may have settled for less than stellar ingredients. But then we would have compromised our mission, and that’s just not who we are.
Whether you’re one of our treasured customers or a business owner yourself, I hope this story encourages you to press on when things get tough. Challenges are always coming, but your next breakthrough may be just around the corner.
-Patrick