50 years of Ruinemans

When Theo Ruinemans sold two tropical fish from his private aquarium back in 1955, he realised that it was more lucrative than his previous occupation. This realisation marked the start of a success story that was to see his company in Montfoort in the Netherlands develop into one of Europe's principal ornamental fish wholesalers. Today, 50 years on, 45 employees care for fish in over 3 000 aquariums with a total capacity of 540 000 litres.The renovation and extension of the company was completed in summer 2005.Ruinemans Aquarium obtains its fish from sources that include its own collecting station in Miami and a catching station in Manaus, Brazil. The company also maintains close contacts with fish collectors and wholesalers all over Asia, and a large number of the fish come from Europe and Africa too - from a total of 25 countries worldwide. Ruinemans pays special attention to quality and how the fish are kept. "To transport the fish we use specially treated water, sturdy bags, oxygen and thermally insulating polystyrene cartons," says Frank de Goey, managing director of the company. "We thus ensure that the valuable fish survive transportation satisfactorily." And even after their arrival in Montfoort the fish remain in quarantine until the desired quality standard is reached. Only then are they sold, but not before being subjected to a further health check. A veterinarian specialising in fish diseases is employed to carry this out and no fish leaves the company without his approval.The stock list of the fish available is updated daily on the Internet, enabling the customer to retrieve an accurate stock inventory at any time and also place an order directly. Customers in the Netherlands and Belgium are dealt with from Montfoort and supplied in weekly deliveries according to set schedules. Other European countries are serviced by travelling field sales and distribution staff who take care of customers in Germany, France, Italy, England, Austria and Switzerland, to name but a few.The sales aquariums with a total capacity of 540 000 litres of water are the state of the art.With the commencement of the renovation work and extension of the company's premises in Montfoort last year, Ruinemans Aquarium embarked on a process of modernisation to meet the requirements of doing business in Europe. The company building, dating from 1973, was in urgent need of replacement, but because the fish sales facilities had always been kept up to date over the years, a…