65 years ago, Dutch Treats in the downtown core opened its doors to the people of Bradford.
The store provided a taste of home for the Dutch settlers who had immigrated into Bradford and The Holland Marsh.
Over the years, the store has seen five different owners, with Rob and Tina Bots being the most current.
Rob Bots moved to Canada eight years ago from the Netherlands after meeting long time Bradford resident, Tina online.
“I imported him and we have an import business,” Tina laughed.
In the Netherlands, Rob worked as a store manager for a grocery store. When he moved to Bradford, he began working as a bookkeeper for the former owners of Dutch Treats, Louise and Cor Den Bleker.
When the Blekers were looking to sell the business three and a half years ago, they approached Bots to see if he was interested in buying.
“Two weeks later we were at the bank to see if we could do it,” Rob remembers.
And the rest is history.
They have their regular customers who they enjoy seeing often as well as enjoy seeing new faces in the shop.
“We have a big Dutch community, especially in the Holland Marsh,” said Rob.
“The third generation is coming around because they can get all the stuff they could get at Oma and Opa’s.”
The store includes favourite Dutch items like windmill cookies, salted black licorice and chocolate sprinkles, soups, and cheeses.
“I like the customers. I like meeting the customers, talking with them, just getting to know them. A lot of them get very surprised because I know exactly what they want before they say anything now,” said Tina.
There is a cafe at the front, where customers can order soups and sandwiches while chatting and looking out the window.
Their Dutch pea soup is one of their most popular menu items.
At the back of the store is a cheese shop, with various imported cheeses, including gouda cheese from Holland.
They also have small gifts and souvenirs, like clogs and t-shirts, set up around the store and available for purchase.
Over the past few years, they have started bringing in some other European items from Germany and Poland.
“It’s changing...we introduced some new products - German and Polish, just to get some other people in,” said Tina.
The store is unique and brings in customers not only from Bradford, but from Aurora, Richmond Hill and some even as far as Sault Ste. Marie.
At Christmas time, their popular alphabet chocolates are a big seller.
The letters comes in a small box and contains 65 grams of chocolate in either milk, dark or white. While it is a Dutch tradition for children to receive these letters in their stockings, it has become a hit for the store and their customers from all cultures as the Bots sell out of their letters every year.
Last year they had ordered about 7,000 letters for the holiday season.
“It’s good quality chocolate,” explained Tina.
“Every year we either sell out or have a couple left over, last year we had 100 left over,” said Rob.
When asked what the best selling, must try products are in the store, the couple gave us their top three picks:
Gouda Cheese - they recommend their cheeses, especially the aged ones. “They have a real nice flavour to them,” said Rob. They recently brought in a new cheese, called Veldhuyzen which has been popular with customers.
Beef Croquettes - A Dutch classic. A roll filled with beef and gravy. “It’s just completely different than anywhere else,” explained Rob.
Salted Black Licorice - The couple says it is an acquired taste. “You either like it or you don’t or you have to keep trying it in order to acquire the taste for it,” said Tina.
The couple is currently working on their online store, which they hope to have up and running in the next few months which will include mainly Dutch and German products.
As one of Bradford’s oldest stores, they believe in being part of the community. They sponsor a Bradford Bulldogs hockey team and participate in town events like Carrot Fest every year.
They appreciate all the support from their customers and to celebrate their 65th anniversary, they will be hosting on open house in October with free samples and a sale.
Dutch Treats is located near the four corners in downtown Bradford at 15 Holland Street East.