About us
CERTIFICATIONS AND DIPLOMAS
Since 1974
Alke is a privately owned company that has been founded in July 1974 by Mr. van Alphen and Mr. Keurhorst. The name Alke is formed of the first two letters of their last names: AL and KE. At the beginning, Alke has started doing business in Europe, in agricultural markets. The main activity was the manufacturing of heating equipment for pig and broiler houses.
In 1980, Alke started to export intercontinentally and they were participating in international exhibitions like Atlanta USA, Japan and Germany. By means of these expos, Alke gathered many contacts from all over the world and from there, the worldwide business started. In the early 80’s, both sons of the owners entered the company for training, starting on the factory floor to learn all the products from A to Z. After a few years of training, both sons started to travel for business. Mr. van Alphen (Adri) covered the Spanish spoken countries and Mr. Keurhorst (Derk-Jan) went to South East Asia and Central Europe.
In July 1994, the sons purchased the company from their fathers, in order to continue the business they were trained for. Mr. van Alphen has taken over the departments of his father: administration and finance, while Mr. Keurhorst has taken over his father’s part of the company: production, sales and development. In the same period, they have founded Alke Agro, especially for the South East Asian countries and Eastern Europe. The use of the Alke name has been an intentional choice, because that name was already very well known all over the world in 64 countries. Another important choice was to purchase and supply only high quality products and services.
In 1976, Alke has purchased a company that manufactured the ceramic tiles which are the beating heart of a gas infrared radiation heaters. The name of that company was “De Porceleinen Fles” from Delft, Holland (world famous for “Delfts Blue porcelain”, which is, next to cheese, windmills and tulips, a typical Dutch product). From then on, Alke was able to manufacture and control its own ceramics, custom made for infrared radiation.
In the 90’s
The Alke ceramic tiles are substantially more effective and efficient than other competitive ceramics. In 1996, Alke Agro designed and launched its feed-pan for poultry from a basic, virgin material from Bayer. This feed-pan was able to resist the cold temperatures (-40°C) from Eastern Europe, as well as the extreme high temperatures (+40°C) in South East Asia. In 1998, Alke Agro purchased the Belgium producer “De Kimpe”, which was already for 30 years manufacturing the auger for the feeding lines. The company had a great reputation on this product, worldwide. Today, we can supply any dimension of the cross-auger up to a maximum length of 120 meters. We exclusively use certified materials from Bekeart Belgium, especially made for augers.
1999 was the year Alke has purchased its competitor “ALSO Gas Soest”, which was manufacturing and selling heaters for agricultural use. They also had a great range of outdoor heaters, which are still produced by Alke, being mainly sold in Europe.
The complete inventory with machines and production facilities was integrated in the Alke production facility. In 1999, Alke also purchased its supplier “Brouwer Machinery Soest”. The company was producing Alke’s parts since 1974 like: nozzles, nozzle holders, hose connections and venturies. The manufacturing of these parts moved into the Alke facility. In 2000, Alke employed Mr. Herman Wind from Gastec Holland, for CE certifying all gas brooders which are produced in the factory. In 2001, a complete certified laboratory has been set up with the entire equipment necessary for certifying our products and to maintain the highest quality level. In 2008, an analyzer, made specially for measuring radiation intensity, has been purchased. There are only 4 of these analyzers in the whole world in operation and Alke owns one of them. These unique laboratory facilities make us one of the most advanced infrared heating manufacturer of the world.
The 2000’s
In 2004, Alke has bought a Romanian competitor who was specialized in HVAC since 1999 on the Romanian market, named Total Confort SRL, from Brasov, Romania. The new name has become “Alke – Total Confort SRL”. Alke-Total Confort operates mainly in the Balkans, having its own young sales team on industrial heating and agricultural projects.
In 2004, an old factory building in Brasov has been purchased with a total of 5300 m² floor surface. The building required a total renovation, which took more than a year. In the spring of 2005, the production department was operational and started with the manufacturing of semi-finished Alke products. These parts are shipped to the Dutch Alke factory where the parts get assembled into finished products. For the “local” customers, some products are finished and tested in Brasov and delivered from there.
In 2010, Alke reached the representation of its products in 96 Countries from all over the world. An achievement that is now transferred to the next generation within ALKE. This third generation in the person of Mr. Robert van Alphen will continue the company’s effort to make better products and services in the future. Although he is still in training, you might meet him soon, somewhere in the world, improving his skills of trading and management. Alke is a “self-made” organization, meaning that we are who we are and what we are by making our products ourselves. We create our products in our own factory, from raw materials to client specific, working products. We proudly present them on this website and invite you to take a good look around. If you want more information, or have any questions or remarks, please do not hesitate to contact us. Alke Agro is producer for poultry equipment.
Alke Agro produces and trades under its own management. We are specialized in designing and delivering turn-key projects, but we also supply smaller projects. We always offer an optimal balance between budget and quality, in order to reach a profitable “Return On Investment” for our clients. We only cooperate with international recommended suppliers such as Vostermans (Multifan), Tulderhof and Hotraco.