Save the Tastiest Garlic Sauce in the World (According to a True Fan)
Supermarket chain Deen is closing down; its stores have been taken over by Albert Heijn, Dekamarkt and Vomar. At a time when doing the grocery shopping is sometimes the only outing of the week, that news hits some people hard. Like Quinten Warner, who immediately wondered what would happen to his favorite garlic sauce from the supermarket’s own brand. He is collecting signatures to save the tastiest garlic sauce in the world from disappearing.
If you don’t know Deen Supermarkt, you probably don’t live in North Holland. The family business started in the 1930s with a small shop in the center of Hoorn and grew into eighty stores. The Deen family is now selling them all because it became clear that major investments were needed to make the stores future-proof. The distribution center in Hoorn is also being sold, as are the flower shop and the butcher’s shop. The stores have been sold to Albert Heijn, Dekamarkt and Vomar.
Not too thick, not too thin
Progress is a good thing, but what about my garlic sauce, Purmerend resident Quinten Warner wonders. He considers it the tastiest sauce in the world. “Not too thick, not too thin and not too sour, but deliciously sweet,” Quinten describes the garlic sauce to EditieNL. He goes through three bottles a week and eats the sauce almost every day. Mainly with shawarma, which is on Quinten’s menu twice a week, but he also dips his grilled cheese sandwich in the garlic sauce.
No room
The store where Quinten gets his special sauce will soon be converted into an Albert Heijn. And there probably won’t be room on Appie’s shelves for a Deen Own Brand product. That’s why he set up an online petition . It started as a joke, but by now almost 3,500 people have signed it. The sauce must stay! Deen’s director, Leendert van Eck, is now receiving lots of calls with questions about the garlic sauce. He doesn’t find that strange. “I always eat this sauce myself, too,” he told the local broadcaster.
Range
Albert Heijn has invited Quinten and a friend to taste its range of garlic sauces. Maybe there’s a worthy successor to the Deen Own Brand garlic sauce among them? Anyone who is now curious about the garlic sauce: Deen will remain open for a while, so hurry to a store nearby and stock up—the sauce keeps for months.
