Linda Kopczinski, farm chocolatier at Boerin Linda, Glane (Netherlands)
Women in Ag is based in Belgium, the land of beer and chocolate. To us, chocolate is a national pride. And yet, we can’t think of anyone who does what Dutch farmer Linda does. In fact, there’s only a handful of farmers in the world who share her specialty: making chocolate bonbons with products from the farm. In Linda’s case, the cream produced from her dairy’s milk is the not so secret ingredient of her chocolate treats.
Linda Kopczinski grew up in agriculture. Her youth was spent in what used to be her grandparents’ farm shop in the south of the Netherlands. Upon meeting dairy farmer Nick, she moved to his farm. It wasn’t long before she decided she wanted to set up her own business on the farm.
“My grandparents’ farm shop was closed in 2001, but it stayed intact until 2014”, she says, “so I spent a lot of time there. At the time, my parents didn’t want to take over the shop: people bought regional products at the supermarket, not on the farm. That wasn’t a thing until recently, when the public started appreciating farm products again. Nevertheless, I grew up in an agricultural context and agriculture is in my blood. I have always known I wanted to work in agriculture.”
Today, the 29 year old has a full time job at Friesland Campina and lives on her fiancé’s and father-in-law’s dairy farm in Glane, Overrijssel (East of the Netherlands). However, even as she moved up the country five years ago, she knew she wanted to be able to do her own thing on the farm. “I don’t have a job on the farm, even though I help out with the calves or during harvest when I’m needed, but have always wanted to have my own business and find something unique that is mine. I love local, honest food. After a long search, I decided I wanted to make chocolate bonbons and set up my workshop on the farm.”
Creating artisanal chocolates on a dairy farm
Linda’s fiancé Nick is responsible for the 174 red Holstein cows on the dairy farm and helps his father with the daily chores of running the farm and its 110 hectares of land. The milk is collected by Friesland Campina/Planet Proof. Among all the red cows, a few Brown Swiss cows stand out. Proudly, Linda takes us to one of them. “This is Brownie”, she says as she pets the sweet-tempered cow over the head. “She’s mine. It’s her milk I use to produce the cream I need for my bonbons. Everything related to the chocolate business – the infrastructure, the pasteurizer and Brownie – are mine, I paid for all of it with my savings. Even though my business is located on the farm, it is a separate business.”
Brownie’s milk is separated from the rest, pasteurised and transformed into cream by Linda. “That’s the connection to the farm”, she explains. Today, Brownie is no longer the only Brown Swiss on the farm. “I like this breed because of the fatty milk they produce. Besides, Brown Swiss cows are very sweet and gentle. They respond to their names! If I am ever able to expand my chocolate business, it will be good to have more than one Brown Swiss on the farm.” Even though all the cows on the farm are loved, Brownie is clearly the queen of the stable. “She always goes first when we take the cows to pasture (laughs).”
Boerin Linda
Linda has always known she wanted to set up her own business on the farm, but it took her a while to find out what her passion was. “I followed ice cream making and cheese making classes, learned to make yoghurt, researched every possibility for the farm’s dairy. It wasn’t until I came into contact with Mackie’s, a Scottish farm producing farm chocolates, through Nuffield that I knew I wanted to find out more.” What followed was a deep dive in the possibilities and lots of research on how to make it her own. During her research, Linda travelled to Japan and Australia to meet other farmers who make farm chocolate. “More and more farmers start to transform dairy into cheese, ice cream or yoghurt, but very few make chocolate. None of them are in the Netherlands. I was intrigued, but I also spend lots of sleepless nights wondering if I could make money with making chocolate.” The idea was forming, but Linda’s couldn’t figure out the execution. Fixated on her desire to use regional, sustainable cacao, she needed one last little push to find her way. “I spent some time with an Australian farmer who makes chocolate using the cacao from the cacao plantation on the farm and thought that was so cool, but I couldn’t figure out a way to find a local cacao producer. That’s when that farmer told me ‘maybe you should not focus so much on the cacao. You have the raw material to produce cream, why don’t you make that your specialty?’’
Finally, it was a sports trip to Alpes d’Huez that made it click for Linda. “I visited a little chocolate workshop there and talked to the people there about our dairy farm. And then I just knew: there’s nearly no one who makes cream. I came home and bought a cream separator and pasteurizer right away and just… started.” For her chocolate, Linda works with Callebaut. “I know Belgium is THE chocolate country. In fact, I would love to do a training in Antwerp. There’s no such thing as chocolatier schools in the Netherlands. I hope I’ll be able to go there one day!”
Once Linda knew what she wanted to do, everything came naturally. “A lot of my business decisions came about by not overthinking too much and just doing”, she says. The company name, “Boerin Linda” (“Farmer Linda”) is simple and clear. Her logo was designed by a friend, who drew her, Brownie and her dog. “It was all very natural.” Since January 2023, Linda is a certified chocolatier and makes her creations in her little shop on the farm, made up of a workshop room, counter and production room.
