On 21 May 1971 pig farmer Bert Verbakel started his company in stable equipment for pig farming. Initially the work took place in a stable near his house in Nijnsel. After 7 years the workshop became too small and the company moved to the industrial area in Nijnsel (NL), where the company is still located.
Soon Bert specialized in the development and production of pig feeders because he found that the existing feeding methods did not meet his desire as a pig farmer.
In the early 1970s, feeders were partially made of asbestos cement and steel, but in the late 1970s Bert was the first producer to switch to the then unknown recycled plastic sheets that he came across at the Pig&Poultry agricultural show in England. These sheets were made from melted together grains of recycled PE plastic, obtained from among other things agricultural plastic. Verbakel has been processing an average of 700,000 kilos of recycled plastic a year for 40 years in a row, which means that an enormous amount of used plastic has been removed from the environment and incorporated into products for pig breeding. An achievement of which VERBA, but certainly also the VERBA customers and the pig industry can be proud.
VERBA was able to easily saw, drill and heat form the plastic sheets themselves. Because of this flexibility and Bert's critical desire as a pig farmer for a perfect feed trough, the liquid feeder was quickly created.
Due to the success of this plastic mash basin, whose basic principles and sophisticated dimensions can still be found in many current products, the company grew very fast and a solid foundation was laid. This also gave VERBA opportunities to tailor the feed troughs even better to demands from the growing pig sector. For example, feed spillage has always been an important spearhead for VERBA. 1 % less feed spillage, which can easily be achieved with a good trough, easily means many thousands of euros less feed costs per year. According to VERBA a good trough is therefore almost always an underestimated but certainly one of the most important, if not the most important, investment in pig houses. After all, a good trough prevents unnecessary feed wastage every day, reduces the amount of feed and water in the manure pit, promotes the pig's growth and ensures ease of work. The difference between a good trough and a less good one is often not easy to see at first glance but lies in details such as a smooth finish, closed anti spillage edges, good adjustment and use of high quality materials.
50 Years later, founder Bert Verbakel is still the owner of the family farm VERBA and the production of the more than 200 different types and sizes of troughs, piglet nests and heating plates still takes place in their own factory in the Netherlands. This ensures the high quality and fast delivery time. Meanwhile, the daily management of VERBA is already more than 5 years in the hands of Jeroen Gloudemans, Bert's nephew, who has learned all the ins & outs of feeding troughs from Bert.
Today VERBA is still known for its high quality pig feeders that are very well thought out and delivered worldwide. By this high quality VERBA means solidity, animal friendliness, hygiene, ease of work and excellent feed conversion. Requirements which all VERBA products meet.
