Boudewijn van der Kroft - TerraSana

For Boudewijn van der Kroft, Managing Director at TerraSana, growth isn’t about chasing the next big thing but about staying true to purpose. The Dutch organic brand has built its success on pure ingredients, honest production, and sustainable choices. In this interview, Boudewijn shares how integrity, focus, and collaboration drive innovation and brand growth at TerraSana.

Purpose Before Performance

For Boudewijn, growth is not about chasing numbers but about staying true to purpose. The family-owned company has been creating organic vegan food for more than forty years, with products that span from nut butters to noodles and sauces inspired by cuisines across Asia and being sold to organic wholesalers, supermarkets, specialist retail and e-commerce parties.

What drives the company forward is not aggressive KPIs but a belief in healthy, sustainable growth. “We want to grow, of course, but not at any cost,” Boudewijn says. “That’s the advantage of a family business — we’re not obsessed with KPIs. We build our forecasts bottom-up, based on what’s realistic and what feels right.”

This long-term view has allowed TerraSana to grow steadily across Europe, with products now sold in more than thirty countries. The company’s strongest markets besides ‘home country’ The Netherlands and Belgium; Germany, France, and Spain, are supported by local representatives who know their language, culture, and customers. “In France, for example, you simply can’t succeed if you don’t speak French,” he explains. “That local connection makes the difference. These are people who live and breathe TerraSana.”

Behind the brand’s business decisions lies a simple principle: purpose before performance. “We don’t measure success by quarterly figures alone,” Boudewijn says. “It’s about building something meaningful that lasts.”

“We don’t measure success by quarterly figures alone. It’s about building something meaningful that lasts.”

Integrity as an Innovation Strategy

TerraSana’s approach to innovation is defined by integrity. Every product that leaves the factory must be pure, honest, and uncompromisingly natural. “We don’t add anything that doesn’t belong,” Boudewijn states. “One of the biggest organic supermarket in the Netherlands once told me, ‘With TerraSana, I don’t even have to check the label, I know it’s good.’ That’s the kind of trust we want to earn.”

Maintaining that standard, however, is far from easy. The company refuses to use synthetic binders or unnecessary additives, a choice that often slows development. “We once had a Sweet Chili Sauce ready to launch, but after a week, the texture collapsed. We could have solved it by adding xanthan gum, but we said no. If it doesn’t work naturally, we don’t launch it.”

This commitment makes innovation both complex and distinctive. Sourcing is another challenge: as an organic company, TerraSana faces fluctuating prices and availability due to climate change. “Cocoa, for example, has increased by 200%. Too much rain one year, too little the next, it’s unpredictable. But it makes you realise how important responsible sourcing really is and that we only have 1 planet we really have to take care of.”

What began as a company specialising in Japanese food has now evolved into a broader Asian expert. “Everyone loves sushi,” Boudewijn smiles, “but you can’t eat it every day. We saw an opportunity in other cuisines like Thai, Indonesian, and Indian, and we want to be seen as the Asian specialist in organic food.”

“If it doesn’t work naturally, we don’t launch it.”

When Less Really Is More

Innovation at TerraSana is not about introducing as much as possible but about doing fewer things better and looking at bolder introductions, which isn’t that easy with having over 450 products in 13 different product categories. “We now focus only on innovations that really matter; products with at least €50,000 in potential annual turnover,” he says. “In the past three years, we’ve launched fifteen new products that together bring in about one million euros. It’s not about quantity; it’s about quality.”

The brand’s most recent success illustrates this perfectly: Crunchy Almond Chai, a spiced almond butter inspired by the flavour of chai latte. “We tested it at trade fairs,” Boudewijn recalls. “Normally, you come back with half-full jars. This time, they were completely empty. People loved it — it tastes like ‘speculoos’ or gingerbread in a jar.”

To support the launch, TerraSana created a focused campaign with in-store billboards, sampling, and influencer collaborations in organic shops. “We can’t fill the whole country with ads, but we can focus where impact is highest so we focused on Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht as the organic shops have a high concentration in those cities. The idea is to drive people into stores and increase rotation. This product is our hero, but it also helps lift the rest of the range.”  For Boudewijn, the Crunchy Almond Chai represents what innovation should be: small, distinctive, and meaningful. “We want to bring more surprising flavours in the coming years,” he says.

“That’s how you stay relevant; not through volume, but through creativity.”

Co-Creating for Growth

At TerraSana, innovation is a team sport. Product management leads the process, but ideas can come from anywhere — marketing, quality, production, purchase, sales, or even suppliers. “Our quality manager once suggested developing superfood mixes, and it became a full project,” Boudewijn shares.

The company follows a flexible stage-gate process. Every idea begins internally and then moves through stages: feedback from sales, a business case review, and a go/no-go meeting with finance, purchasing, and management. “We always test blind,” Boudewijn explains. “We taste our own products alongside competitor and supplier samples, rank them, and only then reveal which is which. And only introduce when we have a better outcome in taste and recipe than competitors, if already on the market ”

Testing doesn’t stop there. Employees often take products home for real-life trials. “If your kids love it, that’s the best feedback,” he laughs. This collaborative model also extends to TerraSana’s customers.

Key clients like Ekoplaza are often invited to sample early prototypes, ensuring early buy-in and smoother listings. “When you include your partners in development, they become part of the story,” Boudewijn says. “That’s how you make innovation work in practice.”

Agility is another advantage of working in a smaller company. “Sometimes a supplier finally delivers a recipe we’ve been waiting on for years, like a low-salt tamari, gluten-free soy sauce, and we can decide immediately to launch. That’s the beauty of short communication lines.”

“When you include your partners in development, they become part of the story. That’s how you make innovation work in practice.”

Balancing Authenticity and Adaptation

As TerraSana expands across markets, it continues to balance consistency with cultural adaptation. What works in the Netherlands doesn’t always work elsewhere. “In France, people thought our curry paste was pesto when we introduced it,” Boudewijn laughs. “They used it straight on pasta. So we added a QR code and a picture of coconut milk on the packaging. That small change made a big difference.”

The brand’s learning is clear: true innovation isn’t just about the product, but about how people understand and use it. In some countries, convenience is key; in others, cooking from scratch remains the norm. “You can’t just roll out one concept everywhere,” he explains. “You have to adapt, but without losing your DNA.”

Looking ahead, Boudewijn sees technology, especially AI, as a valuable tool to support that balance. TerraSana recently used AI to create visuals for its Crunchy Almond Chai campaign, freeing up budget for store activations. “We used AI for the image design, and it turned out great,” he says. “It’s not replacing creativity; it’s amplifying it.” He also envisions AI playing a role in trend prediction and multilingual communication. “Imagine using AI to identify emerging flavours or to automatically translate our website for every market instead of all translations we do nowadays,” he says. “It’s closer than you think. We may not use it fully yet, but we will.”

Ultimately, TerraSana’s story is one of integrity, patience, and purpose. It’s not about chasing the next big trend, but about refining what already works — with honesty, curiosity, and a clear sense of why. “Innovation for us isn’t about speed or size,” Boudewijn concludes. “It’s about staying true to who we are. We only launch something if we genuinely believe it’s a better product. That’s what keeps us relevant, and that’s what keeps us growing.”

“Innovation for us isn’t about speed or size. It’s about staying true to who we are. That’s what keeps us relevant, and that’s what keeps us growing.”