Vintage crate of DIXAP on restored World War II army truck

by Marjolein Zijlstra

Photo taken during 80-year liberation celebrations in September 2024 in South Limburg. Festively, the troops of the time were brought back into the hamlets, villages and towns, celebrating 80 years since the end of World War II. During the moment in 1944, there will not have been a case of Dixap van Covelt from Swalmen on a track, as this company only came into existence a few years later, i.e. after the war. Still, the picture gives a piece of the truth of the moment back then, the hope, the future, it will get better again must have been the euphoria then.

In 1949, Covelt (Coöperatieve Vereniging voor Land- en Tuinbouw) was founded by a number of Limburg fruit growers. These growers sold the finest apples on the market but the so-called 'fall apples' with a small dent or spot were turned over at the auction because they were not 'beautiful' enough. Nobody likes wasting food, so the growers teamed up to look for a solution, and it came. The remaining apples were pressed, then the juice was thickened and bottled. This thickened juice or 'thick juice' was marketed from 1951 under the name Dixap.

Again, this fits right into today's world of fighting food waste, so what was just after the war still lives on in the bottle of Dixap.