Literally…I just spent one day in Amsterdam. I left St. Louis on Sunday, arrived in Amsterdam at 7am, started a meeting at 9:30 am; fell asleep at 7pm, then hopped on a plane home at 10am yesterday. What a whirlwind! And pun intended, didn’t get to see any windmills. However, it was a great trip!
My company was invited to attend a day long innovation meeting with Danone, one of the world’s largest food companies mostly known for Evian water, yogurt and baby food/infant formula (mostly in Europe). The entire focus of the day was on sustainability and how Danone’s suppliers could help them meet aggressive goals such as reducing their carbon emissions by 30% in 2012. I won’t go into detail but Solae’s sustainability story is VERY compelling, especially since we sell only soy-based products. To read more, visit our website.
What I really wanted to share here is the location for the meeting. Danone couldn’t have chosen a better spot that captured the essence of our meeting. We spent the day at Restaurant de Kas, which mean “glass house” in Dutch. As you can see by the photos here, it is full of stunning views. The restaurant opened nearly 10 years ago as a brand new concept…they serve all fruits and vegetables that they grow 
on site. The menu changes every week, sometimes daily depending on the weather. We had a spectacular lunch with potato soup, green and white asparagus, beets and fresh fish. Each dish was garnished with edible flowers also from the garden.
During our afternoon session, many groups worked outside. It was just too beautiful to resist. The restaurant is actually located in the 
center of a city park and not accessible by vehicle. Our taxi dropped up off and we had to walk in across this lovely bridge. Many bring their bicycles to dinner, as a highly common mode of transportation in the Netherlands.
I wish I had more time in this beautiful city especially since my family comes from Holland. Guess I’ll just have to find another reason to go!
