Ionescu Petrisor

Ionescu Petrisor is beaming with pride when he talks about his employer: Lavrijsen Strawberries. ‘I consider my chef Corne like a brother and see everyone that works here as one big family’, Ionescu explains. ‘This the best employer someone could ever have’.
Ionescu is Romanian and has worked for 8 years at Lavrijsen. He has nothing but praise for the company. ‘They explain things well, they are straightforward, they can be patient, but you do have to put in the hard work.’ Leaving Romania was a great adventure for Ionescu. His brother already worked for BAM Vermeer (later BAM Works) as a mechanic. He told him good things and decided to risk coming to the Netherlands. ‘Lavrijsen was the first company I worked for in the Netherlands and it will be the last’, Ionescu explains.  

He enjoyed working there so much that he convinced a lot of his family members to join him for a season or two. ‘I like Dutch people. There is no racism. They seem cold at first, but if you get to know them, they are warm.’

After an 8/9-hour work shift Ionescu likes to relax in his garden. There he grows vegetables, and this brings him a lot of peace. After 8 years he doesn’t feel like a stranger in the Netherlands. ‘I am part of the community and working with the same company in the same place certainly helps,’ Ionescu says.

If you start to work at Lavrijsen Ionescu has a few words of advice. ‘Don’t get into conflict, don’t gossip about each other and don’t do drugs.’ This last piece of advice is especially for the younger employees. I advise them to stay out of trouble, life has so many wonderful things to offer.’