Positive Change Through Good Food
Janine Op Het Veld is a Dutch entrepreneur. Her main focus is food, sustainability & holistic health. She is the proud founder of ÆNDRÈ, a deli and cafe in Hamburg, and her vehicle to contribute to society and planetary health.
“ÆNDRÈ means to change. It is a verb. You can only make a change if you DO. If you BE the change” starts Janine when talking about her heart and soul project, her conscious catering Deli and café in Hamburg.
ÆNDRÈ as perpetual positive change
Janine doesn’t like to talk about “branding”, or “concept”. It feels like something set up, limiting. There is no room for change, and that’s exactly what they are. “Change IS the only constant”.
What she does like to explain, is what they do, and their values: “I want to change the food game. I want to serve, help people, guests and our team, to live a conscious and healthy lifestyle and thereby make a positive impact on ourselves as individuals, on our community and our environment”.
Janine deeply believes in the power of a shared table. And she doesn’t limit herself there. For her, the Deli is just the start. In this changing world, she wants to contribute to a positive change. “This name is perfect for me and my organizations as it will not limit us and always reminds us of this mission of positive change”.
“Where we buy and what we cook is at the very essence of what we do”
At ÆNDRÈ, they believe that the choices that we make about what we eat, where it comes from and how it’s prepared and eaten, “have a powerful impact on the health of individuals, business and the environment”.
The philosophy of food and the magic
“Food is more than a physical substance we need for fuel. Food is philosophy, food is respect, food is culture. So where we buy and what we cook is at the very essence of what we do”.
At ÆNDRÈ, everything is based on plants. Everything is contributing to a healthy body, soul and environment
“Most of what we buy is organic. Most of what we buy is local. We are as sustainable as possible. We are thinking holistically. It’s sometimes very complex to check all these boxes at the same time, but we are not restrictive and always positive”.
It’s both very exciting and engaging, but challenging as well. Janine wouldn’t have it any other way.
She loves the diversity. They get so many different customers. Some come by because of the atmosphere. Some because they are struggling with their health and are beyond happy that someone can help them to eat healthily. Some because ÆNDRÈ contributes to environmental goals. Some because of the music. Many, for the conversation. “It’s so diverse and that’s what creates magic”.
Food can change you
The road towards ÆNDRÈ was hard and scary. “All choices are partly scary. It has to be, otherwise, we don’t learn and everything would be easy and thus not special” Janine smiles.
The jump was made of many small hops. But there was no other path for her. If fear was part of the equation, so were passion and heart. And those voices were always louder. Building up the courage and the confidence were not overnight achievements. She developed experience, learned to trust her choices, learn to step up again after a fall.
The beginning of her journey is very personal. “I noticed that with food you can change yourself. Your body and your mind”. Janine started cooking when living on her own. And started to change. For the better, and sometimes for the worse. “But very soon I realized that food was not about feeding and not about myself”.
A stay in Brazil for a consultancy project, where she saw major flaws in the food system back home, lit the flame. Combined with her intrinsic love for cooking, Janine decided to follow her passion and create a mission.
Food as a vehicle to contribute and change
“Food became my vehicle to contribute and change. Not for myself but for the world around me. This is up to today my drive and biggest advice: find your purpose. And if you’re not sure, that’s not a problem, find that out along the way. You have to start, even if you’re not 100% ready”.
Janine integrated food and sustainability in her studies and internships. Then she started working for an international food retail group based in the Netherlands, operating supermarkets and e-commerce businesses. She wanted to learn about the system and contribute. But she quickly concluded that fast change was not possible in big companies. Hence the bigger leap.
She wanted another environment. She started work at SLA, the first Dutch salad bar. “Together with the most passionate food entrepreneurs in The Netherlands I created a super cool growth: 14 organic restaurants in 4 years. What an opportunity they gave me to learn. Big steps here!” she remembers.
“In this period I found myself and could connect different dots of my life into one path. This made my purpose even stronger”
Next to this, she completed a study in orthomolecular health. She joined Slow Food and its national board to make an impact. A global, grassroots organization, founded to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, it was for Janine a reconnection to the farm life she grew up in.
“I knew I had this unique perspective of farm AND city girl. The connection between farm and city is lost and I was contributing to getting this one back. In this period I found myself and could connect different dots of my life into one path. This made my purpose even stronger”.
The new adventure and the obstacles
Strong enough to make one giant leap. Janine moved to Germany. “A new adventure. Because life is about adventure and my will to learn and to explore is big”. She started with nothing and no idea of what she wanted to do. That created some room for something new. ÆNDRÈ was born. All her dreams combined into one.
“I devoted all my time to conscious living and eating, and making a change. ÆNDRÈ was and is my vehicle to bring people together and raise awareness for personal and planetary health”.
And still, this was hard. Getting the investment for ÆNDRÈ and finding the location was one of the biggest obstacles she had to overcome.
“I had to convince people in a new language, based upon a plan that I was not 100% sure of. I was sure of my purpose. But how you execute and communicate new ideas is something else…” she sighs.
The next obstacle was leading a team in a new country without speaking the language, with a lot of things on her plate on top of it. “It resulted in a loss of faith in my leadership qualities. I started doing too much what other people wanted me to do. Now, I’m investing in myself again. I’m working on my courage to make my own decisions and to do my own work”.
Bright present and expanding future
The plans for the future are happy and bright. “For now we are focused around food. In the near future we will expand and broaden more towards lifestyle”.
“I have so many ideas and plans! The last period was and is about surviving Covid, but we are working on many plans at the moment”, she smiles happily.
In the middle of all of this, Janine also just became a mother. That’s what she answers when asked about her biggest accomplishment.
As for a favorite moment of the day, in the midst of her new routine, still tweaking and adapting it to the growth of her daughter, she had to think for a while.
“I think it is that moment when I finished my yoga, meditation & breathwork, had my breakfast and breastfed my baby daughter, gave her to the nanny that is helping us a few hours a week, made tea and opened my laptop. Starting with ÆNDRE. I must be loving my job…”.
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