Food of Cultures

What Food of Cultures does

Food of Cultures is a family-owned food service company headquartered in Wageningen, Netherlands, founded in 2015 by Ziba, with her husband Masood Eslami joining in 2016. The company operates a multi-channel world cuisine business built around event catering, fresh and frozen takeaway meals sold from two pickup locations, large ticketed community dining events, and — since March 2025 — full-service restaurant dining through Restaurant & Cultuurplein De Blaauwe Kamer in Wageningen. Core event formats include Dinner on the Dike XL (the largest open-air dinner in the Netherlands with 3,333 attendees), Vrijheidsmaaltijd (1,000 attendees), and Dinner aan de Rijn (760 attendees, with expansion to Rhenen from September 2026). Catering clients span hospitals (Gelderse Vallei), universities (Wageningen University), banks (ING, Rabobank), municipalities (Gemeente Wageningen, Provincie Gelderland), and NGOs (VluchtelingenWerk, Leger des Heils).

The revenue model combines quote-based institutional catering contracts, unit-priced takeaway meals (€9.00 frozen, €12.50 chilled), ticket-based events (€22.50 per ticket), a Wereldse Lunch at the restaurant (€15), and the social "Delen Smaakt Beter" program, in which a portion of customer purchases funds meal donations to food banks and asylum seeker centers. Underlying technology is conventional and non-proprietary: a standard e-commerce shop for takeaway ordering, reusable Vytal packaging for sustainability, and Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and email newsletter for marketing. There is no mention of AI, data platforms, or other differentiated technology.

The social mission — employing and upskilling women with migration backgrounds as professional cooks — is the central brand differentiator and has earned formal recognition including a 2018 Wageningen Silver Honor and a 2024 Royal Distinction (Knight) awarded to co-owner Masood Eslami. The team has grown from the founding couple to roughly 11 named members, including a Manager (Mehrnoosh Eslami, joined 2021), Sous-Chef, Cooks, and Operations roles. Customers are a mix of individual consumers, corporate and institutional clients, and socially disadvantaged groups reached through partner NGOs.

Name

Food of Cultures

Legal name

Food of Cultures

Website

https://foodofcultures.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Food of Cultures is a family-owned food service company in Wageningen, Netherlands, founded in 2015, offering world cuisine catering, takeaway meals, ticketed community dining events, and restaurant dining through De Blaauwe Kamer, with a social mission of employing women with migration backgrounds.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Catering Services

NAICS

Caterers (722320), Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Food Service Contractors (72231)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Full-Service Catering (Off-Premise) (HSACAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Event Culinary Staffing & Back-of-House Services (Chefs, Servers, Bartenders) (THAHAKAN), All-Day Dining Restaurants (THAFACAJ), Prepared Meal Subscriptions (Chef-Prepared, Recurring) (CRAHAJAD)

Keywords

• World cuisine catering
• Event catering services
• Takeaway meal programs
• Community dining events
• Social meal delivery

Headquarters

HQ city

Wageningen

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Catering Services: Catering for corporate events, private parties, and institutional clients including buffets, lunches, snacks, and walking dinners. Provided to companies, hospitals, universities, and government organizations.
2. Takeaway Meal Sales: Fresh and frozen world cuisine meals sold for pickup. Chilled fresh meals at €12.50, frozen meals at €9.00. Customers pick up at designated locations and pay on-site.
3. Event Tickets and Hospitality: Ticketed community dining events including Dinner on the Dike (€22.50 per ticket), Dinner aan de Rijn, and Vrijheidsmaaltijd. Additional revenue from drink tokens. Also includes restaurant dining at De Blaauwe Kamer (Wereldse Lunch €15).
4. Social Meal Service (Delen Smaakt Beter): Social impact initiative where customers donate meals to food banks and asylum seeker centers alongside their own purchases. Revenue generated from meal sales with social component.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Food of Cultures prepares and serves world cuisine dishes through catering services for corporate and institutional events, a pickup-based takeaway meal program (chilled and frozen options), and large-scale community dining events such as Dinner on the Dike XL and Vrijheidsmaaltijd. The company also runs Delen Smaakt Beter, a social meal service that donates meals to food banks and asylum seeker centers alongside customer purchases. Since March 2025, the family owners operate Restaurant & Cultuurplein De Blaauwe Kamer as a year-round dine-in venue for their world cuisine.

Product overview

Food of Cultures is a family business offering a unified portfolio of food services centered around world cuisine. The core offerings include catering services for events, a takeaway meal program with chilled and frozen options, and large-scale community dinner events. Major events include Dinner On The Dike XL (Wageningen), Dinner aan de Rijn (Rhenen), and the annual Vrijheidsmaaltijd Freedom Meal. Social initiatives include Delen Smaakt Beter (donating meals to food banks) and meals for refugee reception centers. Since March 2025, operations have expanded to include Restaurant & Cultuurplein De Blaauwe Kamer, where the Food of Cultures world cuisine is served year-round.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Delen Smaakt Beter: A social meal delivery service where customers receive meals at home while also donating meals to food banks and asylum seeker centers (AZC). Since 2020, over 8,500 meals have been donated together with customers.

Products and services

• Catering Service Full-service catering providing world cuisine buffets, lunches, snacks, and walking dinners for events of any size. Operated from the company's own venue at Restaurant & Cultuurplein De Blaauwe Kamer and on-site at client venues.
• Afhaalmenu (Takeaway Meals) Fresh takeaway meal program with rotating menus prepared every two weeks. Available as chilled fresh meals at €12.50 or frozen meals at €9.00, with both meat and vegetarian options, delivered in reusable Vytal packaging for pickup at designated locations.
• Delen Smaakt Beter (Social Meal Service) Social meal service that combines home meal delivery with meal donations to food banks and asylum seeker centers. Customers contribute to community food support alongside their own purchases.
• Maaltijden voor Opvang (Meals for Reception Centers) Tailored catering service for asylum seeker centers and Ukrainian refugee reception locations, providing fresh or frozen meals that meet the cultural and dietary needs of refugees. Built on years of experience working with COA and reception facilities.
• Dinner On The Dike XL Annual outdoor community dinner event held along the Grebbedijk in Wageningen, featuring a hundreds-of-meters-long table of world cuisine. Ticketed at €22.50 per person, with 200 free tickets provided for those with limited financial means.
• Dinner aan de Rijn Annual community dinner event held in the floodplains along the Rhine in Rhenen, organized on behalf of Cultuurplatform Rhenen. Extension of the Dinner on the Dike concept to a new location, with capacity for 760 visitors.
• Vrijheidsmaaltijd (Freedom Meal) Annual May 5th community dinner in Wageningen celebrating liberation, featuring world cooks preparing dishes from their home cultures. Largest freedom table in the Netherlands with 1,000+ participants.
• Wereldse Lunch (World Lunch) Daily self-composed lunch service at Restaurant & Cultuurplein De Blaauwe Kamer, where guests build their own plate from rice, vegetarian world dishes, meat dishes, and salads for €15. Prepared by world cooks.

Quantifiable outcome

• 8,500+ meals donated to Voedselbank and AZC since 2020
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Restaurant & Cultuurplein De Blaauwe KamercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2025Since March 2025, Food of Cultures has been operating as part of Restaurant & Cultuurplein De Blaauwe Kamer. The restaurant now serves Food of Cultures' world cuisine, and the venue hosts events and takeaway services. This partnership expanded the company's operations to include full-service dining.
• Cultuurplatform RhenencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganizer of Dinner aan de Rijn 2026. Cultuurplatform Rhenen commissioned Food of Cultures to organize this first edition of the community dining event in Rhenen.
• Algemene Introductie Dagen (AID) Wageningen University & ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partner for Dinner on the Dike XL 2026. AID commissions Food of Cultures to host the welcome dinner for new students, expecting 1,500+ new students.
• Filmhuis Movie WminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for 'World Movies & Meals' cultural evenings combining film screenings with world cuisine dining experiences.
• Hotel de WereldminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborating partner for Vrijheidsmaaltijd 2026 as part of Wageningen 45 commemorations.
• Visum MundiminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborating partner for Vrijheidsmaaltijd 2026 as part of Wageningen 45 commemorations.
• Bar BurleyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborating partner for Vrijheidsmaaltijd 2026 as part of Wageningen 45 commemorations.
• World Culture ProductionsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborating partner for Vrijheidsmaaltijd 2026 as part of Wageningen 45 commemorations.
• COA (Centraal Orgaan opvang Asielzoekers)coreOthersGovernment body operating asylum seeker centers. Food of Cultures provides meal services for AZC locations.
• VoedselbankcoreOthersFood bank partnership through Delen Smaakt Beter initiative, receiving donated meals from Food of Cultures customers.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Vermaat Group: One of the largest Dutch contract caterers and food-service contractors, operating across corporate, healthcare, education, and government accounts. Broad incumbent with overlapping institutional and event catering capabilities.
• Albron: Major Dutch food-service and contract-catering group serving corporate, healthcare, education, and government clients. Broad incumbent overlapping with Food of Cultures' institutional and event catering lines.
• Sodexo Nederland: Global food-service and facilities-management operator with a sizable Dutch footprint across corporate, healthcare, and education. Broad incumbent with overlapping catering capabilities but at vastly larger scale.

Direct peers

• Maison van den Boer: Established Dutch event and banquet caterer specializing in large-scale corporate and public events. Comparable on the events-catering and large-venue hospitality axis, though without Food of Cultures' social-mission positioning.
• Hutten Catering: Large Dutch foodservice and event-catering operator with broad institutional and event work. Comparable on the institutional catering and event production side, though much larger and without the explicit refugee-employment social model.
• The Colour Kitchen: Dutch social-enterprise restaurant and training concept focused on integrating newcomers through hospitality work. Highly comparable to Food of Cultures in mission (refugee/migrant employment), cuisine mix, and dual restaurant/catering model, though operating at larger scale in Utrecht.
• DOCK catering: Dutch catering company offering buffets, lunches, and event catering with quality/sustainability focus. Comparable on the off-premise catering and corporate-event catering model.
• Restaurant As: Amsterdam-based restaurant employing refugees and people with a distance to the labour market, offering world cuisine. Most direct comparable on the social-mission + world-cuisine restaurant niche.

Emerging players

• KonnèkT Catering: Emerging Dutch caterer with focus on healthy, sustainable, and culturally diverse menus for corporate clients. Partial overlap on world-cuisine catering and the institutional-customer segment.

Regional players

• Wereldkeuken catering (Rotterdam): Rotterdam-area world-cuisine catering concept serving events with dishes from multiple cultures. Adjacent comparable on the multicultural-event-catering niche, though based in a different Dutch region.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/foodofcultures
• Facebookfacebook.com/foodofcultures
• Instagraminstagram.com/foodofcultures.nl
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/food-of-cultures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Food of Cultures