Bram Hage: From promising footballer to CEO of a global deep-freeze empire

By Ad Pertijs – June 16, 2025, 06:25 (Last updated 07:52). Photo credit: Joyce Van Belkom

In the late 1980s, Bram Hage was known as a “promising left-footed player” in West Brabant’s Saturday league football scene. But a serious knee injury changed the course of his life. Today, he’s the founder and CEO of NewCold, a global leader in food logistics, operating 25 ultra-modern warehouses across four continents. 

At NewCold’s sleek white headquarters in Breda, Hage (62) leans back comfortably as he reflects on his journey. It all began in Poortvliet, a village on the island of Tholen. 

“Football shaped my life for a long time,” he says. But he doesn’t dwell on it. “We weren’t allowed to play on Sundays at home, so VVC’68 in Halsteren—the highest-ranked Saturday club after SPS—was the logical choice.” 

During the week, Hage worked for a gardener in Sint Annaland. “My brothers and I would leave for Rotterdam early in the morning to design or maintain gardens there.” 

A knee injury changed everything 

That rhythm was broken in the late ’80s by a serious knee injury. Surgery followed. A year of rehabilitation. Sick leave. “Strangely enough, that became the turning point of my life,” Hage reflects, swirling his coffee. 

“I’d hire Máxima in a heartbeat” 

The curly hair from his football days remains, but his world looks very different. Now living in ’s Gravenpolder, Zeeland, Hage oversees a company that employs 2,700 specialists and manages cutting-edge freezer warehouses around the globe. 

Last year, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima opened NewCold’s 18th warehouse—in Atlanta, USA. One of its major clients? McDonald’s. “That says something,” he smiles. “By the way, I’d hire Máxima in a heartbeat. She asks the right questions.” 

More than three decades after his injury, NewCold has opened a new facility in the Netherlands—between Dinteloord and Stampersgat, not far from where he grew up. It’s the company’s largest and most innovative warehouse to date. 

“What a load of rubbish” 

So how did it come to this? After his injury, the Agricultural Social Fund told him he could no longer work in gardens. “Too risky,” he scoffs. “I thought, what nonsense. I even went back to playing football.” 

Through a reintegration program, he landed a role at logistics firm Frans Maas, which had just opened a center in Bergen op Zoom. 

“I wasn’t technical at all. I had no formal education—just a high school diploma. But my boss said, ‘You have potential. You should be the coordinator.’ That’s how I got into logistics—and I stayed for ten years.” 

That decade was formative. “Before that, I had no idea what I wanted from life. My only focus was Saturday’s football match. But the warehouse opened my eyes—to technology, to working with people, to customer needs.” 

From loyal employee to entrepreneur 

Starting a company wasn’t part of the plan. “I was incredibly loyal to Frans Maas.” But when a downturn in the chemical sector hit, and both General Electric and Frans Maas faced trouble, Hage was tasked with finding new clients—and excelled at it. 

Still, entrepreneurship wasn’t on his radar until 1999, when his wife Sandra pointed him toward frozen fries producer Lamb Weston in Kruiningen. 

“I said, ‘Frozen? That’s not our thing.’ But Sandra insisted. I went to talk to them.” The visit revealed serious supply chain issues Hage knew how to fix.  “Logistics is about throughput, not just storage.” 

The leap 

Hage was close to securing a 48-million-guilder contract, but Frans Maas’s leadership found it too risky. “That made me think. What a missed opportunity. I thought, why not take that contract on myself?” 

So he went back to Lamb Weston—this time as an independent. “They liked the idea. I was 33, and when the bank asked for my articles of incorporation, I had no idea what that meant. I just said, ‘You’ll get them this week.’” 

Together with a few industry peers, he founded Partner Logistics, specializing in computerized freezer warehouses. It took off, with initial sites in Bergen op Zoom and Waalwijk. 

“We became the industry’s most innovative player. All the big frozen food producers wanted to work with us.” 

Pulled under by the 2008 crisis 

Then came the 2008 financial crisis. Partner Logistics was dragged down by the collapse of its main bank, Fortis. After a three-year legal battle with ABN Amro, Hage and his partners lost control. 

“They took over the company completely. We were out.” Hage describes it as one of his biggest life lessons—a misjudgment in understanding how vital capital is. “Capital is to a logistics company what potatoes are to a French fry producer.” 

He could have secured private capital beforehand but feared losing control—especially over the company culture. 

Still, he and his close-knit team weren’t defeated. 

“We lost seven warehouses but saved one in France. And I had moved a site in Germany into a private holding, tied to a major R&R Ice Cream contract.” 

“Looking back, it was a blessing” 

In 2012, Hage and his team made a fresh start with NewCold. This time, they had a solid investor, loyal customers, and their trademark drive for innovation. 

“We told ourselves: let’s start small.” Now, 13 years later, Hage sits proudly in the Breda headquarters. “This comeback is incredible. We never could’ve dreamed this. Looking back, the Fortis collapse was a blessing in disguise.” 

Why did it take so long to return to the Netherlands? 

“Because we had already built the best warehouses here back then. The bank took them over, and competing locally was harder than building from scratch in the U.S., Australia, or India.” 

“This new site in Dinteloord—it’s emotional. If we hadn’t returned to the Netherlands, that would’ve left a scar on my soul.” 

Not the final stop 

Dinteloord isn’t the end of the road. “We open seven to eight new warehouses every year.” 

But growth, Hage insists, isn’t the goal. “It’s a logical response to increasing demand. Each new warehouse has to be better than the last.” 

He remains deeply involved. “I’m hands-on. I don’t think I’m your typical CEO,” he laughs. 

So is Bram Hage still the connecting midfielder he once was on the Tholen and West Brabant pitches?  “Well, yeah—just an attacking midfielder now.” 

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