Over 200 years of excellence in coffee
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Brief historic background
Leonardus Michielsen founds a coffee-roasting house and colonial goods store in Breda on 17 July 1801. Breda and Turnhout are twins in those days, and there is a lively trade between the two cities.
The eldest son of a large family, Jan Michielsen and his wife set off for Turnhout where, in 1908, coffee house Michielsen Koffie is founded. On 28 December 1937 the firm is transformed into a PVBA. Around this period the company moves from the outskirts of Turnhout to make further expansion possible. This is also the period in which the name Miko is born.
During the Second World War the fledgling PVBA requires a good deal of creativity to keep its head above water. Chestnuts are gathered and roasted, the basis of the huge amounts of coffee substitutes drunk during the war years.
The end of the Second World War sees the next generation of Michielsens making a name for themselves. This period is typified by eye-catching product innovations, such as the introduction of the universally famous Miko filter at the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels. Miko is also a pioneer in the field of vacuum-packed ground coffee.
As the result of various study trips by the then-management, a number of radical organizational changes are made during the mid-Sixties, which we now know under the name of "outsourcing". This led to the disposal of the transport fleet, the garage and the house print shop. To professionalize the Miko image still further, famous designer Lewie - who had also developed the Coca Cola logo - designs the famous Miko logo that you now see on every street corner.
From specialization ...
Miko becomes a limited company in 1972. This is accompanied by a reorientation of the client target group: from now on, the sales drives will be mainly directed towards the "out-of-home" market. This means the coffee consumed outside the domestic setting, such as factories, offices, hotels and catering establishments.
Instead of only coffee, Miko now delivers integrated coffee concepts and provides coffee machines with all the associated services. This market is different from the retail market because of the lower volumes of coffee per delivery, a higher degree of service and relatively high margins. More and more new products are launched in the years that follow, such as the Large Catering multi-cup filter for 12 cups and the Pod system, a predosed one-cup espresso capsule.
The great success of the Miko coffee concepts means that a call center is built in Zaventem as early as 1975. The Belgian coffee service organization has since expanded from 3 to 95 staff and a turnover of BEF 750 million.
To diversification ... and internationalization
Diversification begins in 1974. Seeing the filter frame of the one-cup coffee filter is usually plastic, the first subsidiary, Miko Plastics Center NV, is founded that year. The company then goes on to assemble coffee machines, which are placed at the disposal of clients free of charge.
Besides a strong home market, Miko also has own sales and service organizations throughout France, Great Britain, Poland and, more recently, in the Netherlands. Turnover in 2000 is approximately BEF 2.5 thousand million. The total workforce is 485. Two thirds of the turnover is generated by the coffee service activities. The rest is accounted for by the Plastics division that produces packaging materials for countless clients in Belgium and beyond.
Quoted on the stock exchange but still a family business
Two generations of the Michielsen family are active in Miko today. To guarantee the interests of the company, the majority of the management team are persons who are not each other's blood relations. Four independent directors also serve on the board.
In 1998 Miko launches on the stock exchange. The company needs fresh money to continue to finance its growth and professionalize its organization. All the targets that the management had set at the launch for growth of profits and turnover have now been reached. Future strategy remains based on the further expansion of the two core activities. If anything, this will be the result of working resolutely towards long-term growth, both internally and externally. "A company that has survived 200 years cannot allow itself to be seduced by opportunism and a short-term vision. We must show the courage to make investments, consider possible shareholdings or take-overs and evaluate costs on the basis of their strategic long-term contribution to the group. This is the best guarantee of success as a company over the long term. We have been proving it for 200 years now", so says Frans Michielsen, present Managing Director and CEO of the Miko Group.