Fred and Rilana's snack car exists 40 years: 'We make our peanut sauce ourselves from a family recipe'

On the corner of the Loosduinsekade and the Volendamlaan you will find Vermolen’s Snackcar. For forty years you can go there for fries, snacks and in the autumn also for oliebollen. Fred Steenwijk (48) has been in the cart. And there is news: “We are now building a new snack kiosk.”

Fred has been in years in Vermolen’s Snackcar. In 2002 he took over the business from her parents together with his wife Rilana. “As a young man I never thought I would have my own snack bar,” says Fred. “I was trained as a car mechanic and I used to work with cars. Then I met Rilana. She has been in the snack car from an early age. When her father wanted to retire, he asked us to take over the business. I first worked in his business for a year to see if it suits me. I’ve been here ever since.”

For forty years

Rilana’s father placed his snack car on the Loosduinsekade forty years ago and the cart never left after that. “My father-in-law comes from a fairground family and was at the fair with slot machines,” says Fred. “In 1024 that didn’t go well anymore, so he went looking for something else. Then he bought the snack car. We recently dismantled the snack car for our new building. Over the years, everything has been built on it, such as a kitchen and an awning. But, inside was still a real cart with a wheeled base.”

A new kiosk

On Fred and Rilana now have a new kiosk built from stone and wood at the place of the snack car. For fries and snacks, their customers can now go to the oliebollen stall that they have temporarily converted into a snack car. “The oliebollen stand contains everything we need to bake and sell snacks. This way we can stay open while the stall is being renovated.”

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