About Tolsma
Our history and our people
Roots in the Netherlands, growth around the globe.
A world-class leader in agriculture storage and processing grew in the heart of the potato farmlands of the Netherland’s, a small country a fifth of the size of Idaho that is among the world’s leading potato producers and the world’s leading supplier of seed potatoes.
Tolsma was founded by Auke Tolsma, an inventor living in the heart of potato farmland in The Netherlands.
Auke Tolsma began repairing watches and small appliances. Eventually, his reputation for being a man who could fix anything drew the attention of local potato farmers looking for innovation in potato storage and processing.
In the mid-1950s, Tolsma began innovating by incorporating electronic materials, already in use in other agricultural processes, into potato storage and processing. Tolsma wanted to understand everything that was going on with the potato once it left the field — the air, the electricity and current — and then use his visionary, inventive talents to design equipment for optimum control over the conditions.
Tolsma was never satisfied and always wanted to improve, learn and make things better.
Growth came quickly as more and more farmers wanted to buy his control technology and another invention — fans, specifically designed for potatoes (see timeline below).
Auke retired in 1998 but Tolsma was very much a family business. Piet and Cees Tolsma, Auke’s sons, worked at Tolsma until 2012. Today, Tolsma has 175 employees at its headquarters in Emmeloord, Netherlands, and 275 employees worldwide.
Tolsma began operations in the USA in 2015.
Auke Tolsma, 1981
About Tolsma USA
Our Boise-Based Team
Tolsma established operations in the United States in 2015. Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, Tolsma is delivering its world-class innovations in processing, storage and packaging systems to individual farmers and packers such as Golden West Produce and large processors such as Simplot and McCain Foods.
Dim Jan de Visser
Tolsma International CEO and CCO
Joseph Eiguren
Director of Business Development and Sales
Troy Craig
Area Sales Manager, Eastern Idaho Region
1647 Woodruff Park
Idaho Falls, ID 83401-3330
Tolsma USA Advisory Board
Tolsma has named an advisory board to help steer USA operations. From left to right: Alicia Ritter is a public relations executive and president of Ritter Consulting in Boise; Peter Friedmann is a Washington, D.C., lawyer who represents clients on federal policy and executive director of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition; Duane Grant is a Rupert potato and sugar-beet farmer who owns 4-D Farms in Rupert and is chairman of the Snake River Sugar Cooperative and the Amalgamated Sugar Co.; Dim Jan de Visser is Tolsma’s International’s CEO and CCO; Jeff Sayer is former director of the Idaho Department of Commerce and managing partner of Rectify Horizons; Pieter Wesseling is former Tolsma CEO and president; and Roy Eiguren is a Boise lawyer and public-policy consultant, managing partner of the Eiguren Ellis Public Policy firm and co-owner of Intelligent Office of Boise.
From left to right: Alicia Ritter, Peter Friedmann, Duane Grant, Dim Jan de Visser, Jeff Sayer, Pieter Wesseling and Roy Eiguren
About Tolsma International
Tolsma headquarters in Emmerloord.
From the international potato capital in Emmerloord, the Netherlands, Tolsma-Grisnich partners with farmers, packers and processors on every continent. We design, deliver and service installations for unloading, transporting, storing, cleaning, grading and packaging potatoes, onions and carrots so you can feed the world. Our turnkey and custom solutions and intensive process support give our customers complete peace of mind while delivering the highest possible returns on their products.
Tolsma employs 275 employees worldwide and 175 at our headquarters in Emmerloord. Our engineers, technicians, sales and service personnel are the backbone of Tolsma. With more than 75 years of experience, Tolsma’s knowledge of market trends and the ability to ascertain the unique storage and processing chain needs of our customers is unrivaled. Throughout the lifetime of the system, customers all over the world can rely on the advice and solutions provided by the specialists from the Tolsma service and support department.
Mission + Vision + Values
Mission
Our mission is to improve your agribusiness by providing the highest quality, most efficient and cost-effective storage and processing solutions in the world.
Vision
The vision of Tolsma is to be the most innovative, reliable and trusted partner for the world’s best agricultural entrepreneurs and packing and processing companies.
Values
The only way we can improve your business is to continuously improve ours.
Customers
We understand the hard work, dedication and passion that it takes to be a farmer and the legacy that a successful farm can build upon. We appreciate the time and investment it takes to build, grow and improve a business. We know that every operation is unique. From our efforts to continuously improve our technology to our custom installations, the value we place on our customers is evident in everything we do. We work very hard to stay in touch with our customers long after an installation is complete. We moderate study groups and attend and host events to gain more insights about what farmers, packers and processors need to be successful.
Service
Tolsma strives to provide the highest quality products and systems and the most superior level of service. When issues arise, our service and maintenance departments always solve them in the fastest most accurate way. Tolsma believes it is better to be safe than sorry, which is why we perform regular maintenance activities on Tolsma equipment. Our services range from as simple as delivering spare parts to fully outsourcing your maintenance to Tolsma.
The Tolsma Vision Control climate computer allows our technicians to check and control your system directly, solving issues sometimes even before you know they are there.
Data
One of our most valuable competitive advantages and the most powerful tool for continuous improvement is data. We use and analyze data from all phases of storage and processing to help us find ways to improve your product quality, limit your energy consumption and improve and simplify your overall management of your products and operations.
Employees
We invest in our employees and their continuous improvement by supporting coursework and studies that will improve their knowledge and skills through our Netherlands-based Tolsma U educational program. The Tolsma Academy encourages young employees to develop personal and professional experience with Tolsma. We support every employee to attend courses that contribute to professional development and expertise.
Continuous Improvement
Tolsma’s research and development arms work aggressively to continuously improve our current technology and develop new and innovative products and systems through partnerships with other companies, research facilities and universities throughout the world. Our R & D team is driven to help you improve your agribusiness by continuously developing innovative and ingenious ways to improve our systems and equipment.