Dossche Deinze
THE ABANDONED FACTORY IN BELGIUM
‘Dossche Deinze’ is a family business in Belgium that produced cattle-food. The company was run by the two brothers Daniël and Jacques Dossche. The factory was built in 1975.
In 1875 Prosper De Volder and Henri and Emiel Timmermans set up a vermicelli factory on the banks of the Leie. The factory was expanded a few years later with a steam engine for grinding grain. The factory is destroyed by a fire in 1890 and two years later it is rebuilt as ‘NV Molens van Deinze’. In 1976 the Dossche family takes over and starts internationalization. The Deinze Mills became one of the best-known family businesses in the city. With towering factory buildings on the Leie and the Schipdonkkanaal. The mills have been defining the skyline of the Leie.
The Dossche family expanded its activities with restaurant chain Colmar. Animal food producer Cervo, joined the group and in 1995 another Polish food producer was taken over. Also Maïski became a Dossche brand. The Dossche family is ranked number 274 in the list of richest Belgians. The company had another factory in Zolder.
Quartes
In 1932 the family Versele, also from Deinze, started a small grocery shop, but it grew over the years to a big company producing and selling food for horses, cows and rodents. In 1999 they joined forces with Dossche creating a new company: ‘Quartes‘. The new name was a reference to quality. After the merge, the new company closed its factories in Zolder and Deinze. Both were demolished in 2008. But the last the 60-meter-high tower with 18 floors in Deinze was demolished in 2014. I took these photos of ‘Dossche Deinze’ in 2008.
