Ericus Gerhardus Verkade (20 November 1835 – 8 February 1907) was the founder in 1886 of the Verkade

Verkade

Verkade is a Dutch manufacturing company. The company is headquartered in Zaandam and was one of the oldest existing family companies in the Netherlands until its takeover in 1990 by British United Biscuits, which in turn was taken over in 2006 by Blackstone Group and PAI Partners...

 manufacturing company of the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

.

Verkade was born in Vlaardingen

Vlaardingen

Vlaardingen is a town in South Holland in the Netherlands. It is located on the north bank of the Nieuwe Maas/Nieuwe Waterweg river at the confluence with the Oude Maas...

. He was named after his father, the notary

Civil law notary

Civil-law notaries, or Latin notaries, are lawyers of noncontentious private civil law who draft, take, and record legal instruments for private parties, provide legal advice and give attendance in person, and are vested as public officers with the authentication power of the State...

 Ericus Gerhardus Verkade Sr (1801-1835), who died one month before he was born. Verkade's mother, Geertruida van Gelder, was from Wormerveer and moved her family back to her birth place shortly after Ericus Jr's birth.

Soon after school, Verkade started a vegetable oil factory, which burned out in 1875. The next eight years he and his brother-in-law traded in grains. On May 2, 1886, he started a steam-powered bakery, which company he first named "De Ruyter" for the first mill in Zaandam

Zaandam

Zaandam is a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad, and received city rights in 1811...

 that milled flour

Flour

Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...

--the original "ruiter" ("knight") was on the company logo until 1994. Verkade originally baked bread

Bread

Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...

 and rusk

Rusk

A rusk is a hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread. It is sometimes used as a baby teething food. In the United Kingdom, the name also refers to a wheat-based food additive.- Germany :The zwieback A rusk is a hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread. It is sometimes used as a baby teething food....

, but soon expanded to make cookies, chocolate, and snacks. Verkade became a household name in the Netherlands.

In 1857 in Zaandam, Verkade married Trijntje Smit (1835-1863) in 1857, with whom he had a daughter. In 1865 he married Eduarda Thalia Koning (1841-1917), with whom he had 7 children. His son Jan Verkade

Jan Verkade

Johannes Sixtus Gerhardus Verkade was a Dutch Post-Impressionist artist. In the early 1890s, frequented the circles of Paul Gauguin and of Les Nabis...

 (1868-1948) became a well-known Post-Impressionist artist. Jan was the twin brother of Ericus Gerhardus (1868-1927) who would take over his father's business.

Verkade died in Hilversum

Hilversum

is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Located in the region called "'t Gooi", it is the largest town in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller villages...

in 1907.