Kadir Ahmed makes halal sausage bread together with Verstegen

How did Kadir Ahmed manage to develop his sausage rolls with large companies? His sausage rolls are available in all major supermarkets, all thanks to a big idea. "Hey, hello, I'm Kadir, and I want to make sausage rolls. I'm going to be big someday, and you're going to help me," Kadir Ahmed told Verstegen in 2014. No sooner said than done. Verstegen Spices & Sauces decided to develop the halal sausage rolls together with Kadir.

How it all began

How did you get Verstegen to collaborate on developing a new product?
I just called them. I said to the representative: 'Hey, hello, I'm Kadir and I'd like to make sausage rolls. I'm going to be really big someday, and you're going to help me.' The representative's name was Cees Peterse. Somehow, he felt sympathy for me, because he decided to develop this product with me, a player with no revenue, just an idea.

Collaboration with Verstegen

Ahmed and his mother searched for the perfect amounts of herbs and spices at Verstegen. The collaboration went well, and the sausage roll has the exact flavor Ahmed had in mind. "Lots of tasting. A little of this, a little less of that. It took almost two years before we got the flavor just right," he says as he serves two warmed sausage rolls. "In our culture, eating is part of a meeting. At my place, there are sausage rolls on the table."

Photo: Jeroen Poortvliet