Tema Fine Foods streamlines order process and enhances customer experience with Mendix and SAP Business One

With a smart mobile ordering app built using low-code, Tema Fine Foods lays the foundation for scalable growth

The head office of the Tema Fine Foods Group is located in Katwijk, with a cash & carry branch in Venlo. The company also operates subsidiaries in multiple other countries, including Germany, Sweden, France, and Romania. Each subsidiary trades under its own brand name to ensure local recognition—such as Amina Fine Foods, La Seniora, Euro Orient and Tayba Foods.

Inefficient and error-prone order process

Tema Fine Foods realised that the ordering process for its customers was far from perfect. Processing orders took a considerable amount of time for employees—time they would rather spend connecting with and supporting customers, especially during a period of growth and expansion of the brand portfolio.

The biggest challenge was within the internal sales team. Orders arrived via email, telephone or WhatsApp, often with long lists of items that had to be manually looked up and entered into their ERP system, SAP Business One. This made the process not only time-consuming but also prone to errors.

In addition, each of the international group’s entities had its own way of working—particularly when it came to financial administration. The lack of standardisation hindered scalability and further growth.

A smart order app for every brand and country

Tema Fine Foods decided to standardise the ordering process and enlisted Aiden’s support. While SAP Business One serves as their core ERP system, the specific requirements around ordering demanded a level of flexibility that called for a tailored solution using the Mendix low-code platform. The result was a smart, mobile ordering app—with a unique version for each brand within the Tema Fine Foods Group. Effectively, a mini-webshop in your pocket. Built with Mendix on top of SAP Business One, the app aligns seamlessly with Tema Fine Foods’ unique business processes.

Customers can now easily place orders using their phone or tablet, even without a stable internet connection. The app is designed as ‘offline-first’, meaning it can be used and products added to the basket without internet access. Once a connection is re-established, the order can be finalised. This feature was essential for Tema Fine Foods, as orders are often placed from basements or warehouses with poor connectivity. Each order is then received directly as a quote within the Tema Fine Foods SAP Business One environment.

What makes the app truly stand out is that each brand and country has its own customised version. For example, Amina Fine Foods in Romania has its own app—styled in the brand’s colours, language, and identity. Features like multicurrency and multilingual support are built in, allowing customers to order in their local currency and set the app’s interface to their preferred language.

Users can also scan barcodes while shopping, mark favourite products, view discounts, and download invoices or credit notes as PDFs.

A brand-enhancing step forward

The introduction of the mobile ordering app not only brought peace of mind to the internal sales team, but also allowed them to gain more control over their processes. It improved visibility, accelerated order processing, and increased internal standardisation between the group’s various businesses. Most importantly, it created a more professional impression for customers due to the ease of use.

Thanks to the flexible setup of Mendix and SAP Business One, Tema Fine Foods can approach each new market with a recognisable, local identity.

Ready for the future: rolling out to more countries and adding new features

After the successful launch in the Netherlands and Romania, the app was quickly rolled out to La Seniora in Sweden. Tema Fine Foods is already looking ahead: the app is scheduled for implementation in Germany, France, and the UK.

Their ambitions go beyond just optimising the order process. Tema Fine Foods is currently working on expanding the app with tools for sales reps and smart features such as product recommendations based on previous orders. A container tracking tool is also in development, enabling customers to track their orders in detail from dispatch to delivery.

‘This isn’t the end point for us, but a foundation,’ says Michiel Gerits, Vice Director at Tema Fine Foods. ‘With this approach, we combine the power of SAP with the flexibility of Mendix. That not only leads to satisfied customers, but also brings clarity and structure to our own organisation. And that’s exactly what we need to continue growing.’

Aico Biewenga, Business Unit Director SAP Business One at Aiden, adds: ‘The strength of this project lies in the combination of standardisation and a tailor-made low-code solution. By connecting SAP Business One with a smart mobile Mendix app, we’ve worked with Tema Fine Foods to create a future-proof solution that fully aligns with their way of working.’