SUSTAINABILITY
Café de Ceuvel wants to make a difference in the world, and it starts on your plate. The global food system is the largest cause of climate change and a range of other social issues. That’s why we’re searching for what truly makes food and drinks good. It goes beyond just a label that says ‘organic’.
We collaborate with a wide range of initiatives that ensure every plate, beer, and drink we serve contributes to making the world a little better. For example, we make our own soft drinks using organic syrups from Saru Soda, and our beer comes from Gulpener or small breweries. Since taking over the café on November 1st, 2020, we cook completely vegan, serve CO2-free coffee from Kaap Koffie, and are completely off the gas grid!
Click here to learn more about the origin of our products.
SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
To us, the social component of sustainability is just as important as the ecological one—and sometimes an even greater challenge. It’s about offering a sustainable product for everyone in society, from all walks of life. Unfortunately, organic and local products, as strange as it sounds, are often more expensive than vegetables and fruits flown in from thousands of kilometers away.
While we would love to keep all our prices below average, that’s not always feasible. That’s why we’ve partnered with the Stadspas program so we can always offer an affordable meal and drink for people on a tighter budget who still want to consume responsibly. It remains a constant search for how to make sustainability accessible for everyone—not just the wealthy.
VOLHARDING B.V.
Since November 1st, 2020, Café de Ceuvel has been taken over by De Ceuvel’s cultural programmer, the Café’s head bartender, and a shipbuilder from the NDSM wharf. The company they founded is called De Volharding (The Perseverance), named after the old shipyard that once stood on the Ceuvel site. The name not only points to the future but also honors the long and rich history of the area as a shipyard. The sustainability mission initiated by the café’s founders is now being ambitiously continued by the new captains of the ship.
Beyond the sustainability mission and the café’s social focus, the new owners are also facing a new challenge. On January 1st, 2024, De Ceuvel’s original 10-year lease came to an end. Together with former district chair Coby van Berkum, the new ownership team is now working with the De Ceuvel association and Metabolic to shape plans for Ceuvel 3.0.
The Building
The building was designed by architect Wouter Valkenier. He constructed the entire structure using upcycled materials. For example, the café is built from 80-year-old mooring posts from the Port of Amsterdam and the former lifeguard pavilion from Scheveningen.
Studio Valkenier is also known for designing Hannekes Boom, BRET, and the Stadstimmertuin.
History
In 2014, Toon Maassen, Joey Hodde, Esmee Jiskoot, and Bart Fokke made a radical decision: they quit their studies and, at the age of 22, started the sustainable Café de Ceuvel at the newly established creative hub De Ceuvel.
After years of pouring their blood, sweat, tears, dancing, and joy into Café de Ceuvel, the time came in 2020 to take a new path. But how do you let go of a place you’ve fought so hard for? Fortunately, a solution was found: with the arrival of the new owners, the ideals of this founding group have been proudly upheld.
