Our story
Trefin is a Belgian family owned company, founded in 1929 as a Ltd company.
At first we were active as a producer of confectionery articles and what first was a small chocolate department, has now grown to a mature and up-to-date production unit.
Famous for its traditional products, Trefin managed to maintain as a fixed value in the Belgian confectionery sector through the years.
Hartmint, the most famous mint candy in Belgium, continues this tradition. You can find the blue candy with the red heart in hotels, restaurants, meeting rooms, supermarkets, service stations,...
The perseverance, efforts, creativity and hard work of the predecessors made Trefin a company that extended popularity well beyond our borders.
1910-1930
Once upon a time, a long time ago ...
What started as a small-scale artisanal bakery / pastry shop in the city center of Lokeren, founded by the Van Der Poorten Brothers, quickly developed into an established value.
Due to the increasing demand and the success of the products, the decision was made to move to a new build facility in the Durmelaan, where the story continued ...
1929
Foundation of Confiserie De Bie - L'abeille Trefin Ltd
The company as it exists today "Confiserie De Bie - L'abeille Trefin Ltd" was founded on December 31, 1929 * January 1, 1930.
From the start the honey bee (cf. "De Bie" in Dutch, "L'abeille" in French) was chosen as the company mascot: symbol of diligence, zest for work and sweet temptation.
1940-1945
The war years
On May 19, 1940, the factory in Durmelaan was not spared by the German bombing ...
Five bombs landed on the factory.
The factory was partly destroyed and the sugar supply kept burning for three days.
Man / Machine
Right from the start, efforts were made for a healthy balance between man and machine.
Packaging & Artwork
To make a difference, a lot of attention was paid to colorful packagings and modern, contemporary ideas.
Transportation
In the sixties every Belgian province (nine in total those years) had it's own truck with driver.
Later on the border countries (The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France and Germany) followed.
Exhibitions & Publicity
To create brand awareness of "Toffees Trefin", the company particitpated in domestic fairs.
Due to further internationalization we expanded our interest in other markets, and decided to participate at first in crossborder fairs, followed in the eighties by the international fairs (ISM, Anuga, Foodex,...), who are still highly valued by professionals today.
In the fifties and sixties Trefin was regularly seen in the street scene on billboards, posters, colorful shop windows, ... we even had our own football teams in Lokeren and Ostend!
Not so long ago, in the nineties, investments were made in TV publicity.
1974
Moving to a new home
After literally shutting down the gate in the Durmelaan, in the mid-seventies, our story continued in the Waaslandlaan 5, remaining in Lokeren.
Modernizing and expanding in the city center of Lokeren was not longer possible, therefore a completely new settlement was chosen in a brand new industrial zone on the outskirts of the city of Lokeren... the place where we still actually work, renovate and expand today.
1990-2000
Expansion
Due to the increased pressure from the world market, efforts were made to expand sales to other continents.
Keeping up investments in modern machinery and necessary automation was an obligation for the future to come.
The environmental and quality system was further expanded.
2019-2020
90 years anniversary!
Today, Trefin still is a (3rd generation) family business, in which people are an important link.
We are proud of our achievements realized together with our employees over the course of these nine decades!
On to the centenary ... and beyond ...
Future
Nobody can predict the future ...
Despite that, the company continues to pursue its own 'sweet' direction, independently and with the ultimate goal: to offer you -our customer- the most qualitative products.
All of this with the utmost respect for men and environment, with permanent investments adapted to current and future technologies.
