In 1884, entrepreneur Martinus Wulms, more commonly known as 'Merte' started the first generation of the family business. He did this by going door-to-door with his goods in a shoulder yoke. When customers were tight on money, they could pay him in eggs. These eggs were not cheap and this way, they could be sold for a profit. Business was booming so the two baskets soon became too small.
'Merte' married Anna Maria Polaert in 1894. After the marriage, the first shop was opened in the bride's house. As a dowry, 'Merte' received a dog with a cart. This allowed 'Merte' to carry more goods and travel greater distances. This way, he was able to expand his clientele. Soon, the loads proved too heavy for the dog and 'Merte' purchased a pony with money he borrowed. Not much later, 'Merte' was able to purchase a horse and so exports to Belgium could also begin.
During World War I, the business suffered a severe blow. Trade to Belgium came to a halt and by the time 'Merte' had his last shipment paid, the franc had been devalued to half. However, ‘Merte' kept his good spirits and resumed exports to Belgium after the war. In addition, exports to Germany also took off at that time.
In this year, the business was passed on to Merte’s son Leonardus Martinus Wulms, also called ‘Lei’. In this same year, Lei married Maria Gertruda Verheijen. This is when the second generation starts. Together, they showed even more entrepreneurial spirit and began trading compound feed products.
Lei bought the business’ first truck and, at the time, achieved fantastic sales totalling 300,000 eggs a week. Business continued to thrive, so in 1938, Lei bought a second truck.
When the Germans invaded the Netherlands, Lei and Gertruda thought their business was finished. Suppliers could no longer be paid and therefore nothing was coming in on the procurement side. This remained the case until liberation day.
After the liberation, fortunately, there was a revival and the company immediately returned to business at full speed. Things were finally going well again.
Lei was granted exclusive distribution to certain companies for compound feed in Weert and the surrounding area. Partly because of this, the fleet could be expanded again.
A grocery shop was opened on the Middelstestraat in Weert, from which compound feed and many other products were sold.
The grocery shop was soon expanded to ensure that there was sufficient space for the loading and unloading of produce. During this time, the first eggs were broken in the basement of the premises and were then stored in tins in the refrigerators.
Lei's son Jan Wulms and his wife Maria Roijackers take over the business together under the name Wulro, which stands for Wulms-Roijackers. Together, they started the third generation.
Jan bought the church at Leuken on Kraanweg in Weert in 1969. From then on, things shifted to breaking and grading eggs for the export of eggs and egg products.
After receiving a notice from the municipality about plans to demolish the church, Jan decided to build a factory at Seelenstraat 7 in Weert. This is where the company's egg product developments continue to this day. This factory is still used after receiving the necessary modifications to provide our customers with egg products.
Jolanda Wulms-Thomassen, the daughter of Jan and Mia Wulms, joined the company at the age of 16. Jolanda worked very hard to get the administration in order. Later, Jolanda married Henrie Thomassen, who was also working at Wulro at the time. To this day, Jolanda still takes care of the administration and many other things within the company and Henrie makes sure the logistics part of the business runs smoothly.
Leon Wulms, son of Jan and Mia Wulms, joins the business. Leon began working in the factory as a production worker. Jan Wulms was convinced that if you want to run a business, you should know what it is like to do the work. In 1994, Leon was promoted to the office to take up a commercial position.
In this year, Jan and Mia Wulms' youngest son also joined the business. Like his brother Leon, Marcel first started working in the factory and later moved on to a commercial position in the office.
Marcel Wulms joins the company. He will manage the buying and selling side of things together with Leon. From now on, Marcel will supervise the technical side of the business and Leon will mainly focus on the commercial part. Later this year, Marcel and Leon took over the Wulro business from Jan and Mia, starting the fourth generation.
In this year, the grading operations were seized and the focus shifted entirely to egg breaking and egg product manufacturing.
Bird flu broke out in the US, increasing the demand for egg powders. Leon and Marcel decided to anticipate this and built a factory called DEPS (Dutch Egg Powder Solutions). A year later (2016), the factory became operational.
When DEPS was only just fully up and running, the fipronil crisis arose. This was a very tough time. The fipronil crisis had a very big impact on the egg trade. Leon, Marcel and the team managed to pull through and, together, were able to ensure that DEPS is still standing proudly to this day.
The 5th generation of the Wulms family joins the company. Wessel Wulms, son of Marcel Wulms, began working at DEPS as a junior process operator. Having worked at DEPS for 2 years, Wessel knows the entire process. Wessel began working in the pasteurisation department at Wulro so that he could master the entire process. Currently, Wessel is the team leader of the pasteurisation department and is preparing the operators to take over his duties so that he can take the next step and join management.
After much hesitation, Leon and Marcel decide to bring the Wulms name back into the company name. A new logo will be created and from this moment on, Wulro egg products, Wulro international and DEPS will fall under Wulms Egg Group.
In February of this year, Russia invaded Ukraine. As a result of this event, prices increased rapidly. This while the egg market was already under considerable pressure due to the huge presence of bird flu that just wouldn't go away. This put a strain on many commercial relationships, but fortunately we could count on the understanding and trust of our customers.
In March of this year, the 5th generation of Wulms Egg Group will be expanded as Marcel's daughter, Esmee Wulms, will join the quality department. Esmee will first become acquainted with the liquid side of the business and then with all facets of DEPS. Her main focus will be to eventually become head of the quality department.
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