Expedition Blue Band factory

Rooftop De Kaai (Nassaukade 5)
Duration 45-60 minute
Restrictions Admission from 18 years onwards; wear sturdy, closed footwear; for this rooftop, it is important to be able to walk well.

Make sure you arrive at the location on time. Check your ticket for your time slot.

We have a new rooftop in our programme. And not just any rooftop! During your visit to this former Unilever margarine factory, you will walk across the different rooftops of the factory and its outbuildings, including a steel footbridge between the old installations. As the icing on the cake, you will be able to take a look inside the special factory hall where you can see old footage of the factory in operation. The view from De Kaai offers a whole new perspective on Rotterdam which we haven’t shown before during the Rotterdamse Dakendagen. Look between the bridges to the city centre or across the Nieuwe Maas.

Until 2022, this site at the edge of Feijenoord served as a factory that made Becel, Blue Band, Bona, Zeeuws Meisje and Croma – all from Unilever’s margarine branch. Calvé peanut butter jars were also filled here (many people from Rotterdam are familiar with the huge dummy jars you can see from afar on the quay). The factory at Nassaukade was founded in 1890 by entrepreneur Samuel van den Bergh. In those years, vegetable oil replaced animal fats in margarine, and Rotterdam, with its port as a supply location for these oils, was therefore the perfect site for a new margarine factory. The factory building, which covers more than 24,000 m2, was designated as a municipal monument in 2021. The outbuildings around the monument hall will be demolished in a few years to make way for a completely new residential area.

Note that this activity does not include a visit to ‘The Bridge’ from 2005, the floating glass office built above the factory.