Ralf Immens
Owner of Gruts Genieten
Independent entrepreneur in creative activation and community management
Since 2021, Ralf Immens is owner, together with a partner, of the start-up project Gruts Genieten, that highlights local food in the Brabant region: “We believe that when we can show pride from producers, consumers are willing to pay a fair price for it. We help food entrepreneurs with marketing and sales activities. We have a shelf with traditional local products at bakeries, a high beer concept in the hospitality industry, and B2B we work with local food gifts. As an example, we also facilitate local food items alongside a cultural cycling route.”
Ralf started as an independent entrepreneur in 2017, focusing especially on creative activation and community management. Co-initiator of pop-up restaurant Gast in the Maria Chapel of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, he was responsible for organising there the opening of the We are food year 2018 of North Brabant, European Region of Gastronomy 2018.
In the following years, he has been an active stakeholder within the region, working as a project manager for FoodUp! Brabant (Province of North Brabant), as well as organising the local contest to select North Brabant’s finalists to the European Young Chef Award. He represented North Brabant during visits to other member regions of the World/European Region of Gastronomy Platform, such as Galway-West of Ireland, Sibiu and South Aegean. Alongside that, he has been carrying out several other assignments in the field of food, culture and leisure that allowed him to expand his network. He became and IGCAT expert (International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism) in 2023.
Ralf enjoys working in situations where different stakeholders converge, helping entrepreneurs, public institutions and education to work together, mainly in the field of food & leisure. With his creativity, he would like to continue contributing to a sustainable food chain.