4 - Recognised
i
The kitchen has confirmed practice across four areas of responsible cooking. Sourcing is the clearest: the owners are members of Coöperatie Het Leegveld, founded with farming neighbours on the same road, and beef, milk, eggs, honey and dried sausage reach the restaurant directly from those farms. Animal products carry named-producer traceability: beef from the neighbouring farm, dairy from the Leeuwen-Manders family, and dried sausage from Rob van Helmond's heritage pig farm.
On waste and energy, 756 solar panels serve the site, with heat pumps and cooling in the event hall running on that solar electricity. Refrigeration is chilled through the day so it can be turned down overnight. Vegetable trimmings go to the pigs next door. Paper, glass, packaging and garden waste are separated on site, and a collection point gathers drinks deposits for donation.
On the social side, the restaurant is a recognised training company, employs 35 people on permanent contracts, and regularly places participants from Keertwending, which supports people at a distance from the labour market. Natuurpoort de Peel has held the Green Key certificate at gold level since July 2020. In September 2024 an independent jury awarded it the first Groene Pluim in Deurne for its environmental and social policy.
The impact dimensions
Low waste & circular practices✓
Sustainable animal products✓
Named local farms on the same road supply beef, dairy, eggs, honey and charcuterie.
The owners co-founded Coöperatie Het Leegveld in 2019 with four neighbouring farming businesses on the Leegveld. The dairy farm of Arjan Manders and Arjan van Leeuwen supplies milk for cheesecake, yoghurt and cheese. Beekeeper Hans van Rijswick supplies honey and berries used in dishes. The pig farm of Rob van Helmond, which keeps heritage breeds, supplies dried sausage. The cooperative markets milk, pancake flour, eggs, dried sausage and honey, with Leegvelder beer added in 2021.
The restaurant's own site names Familie Leeuwen-Manders as the source of its milk, states that meat comes from its own butchery, and the regional destination body corroborates that beef comes from the neighbours and desserts are made with Leegveldermelk. The site itself was a working farm before becoming a restaurant, consistent with the farming road it occupies. The restaurant also runs its own food garden at the same address.
Summer and winter editions published; rotation pattern not fully documented.
The published menu card is titled as a summer edition, with both 2025 and 2026 editions available, showing the card is refreshed year-round and seasonally named. A soup of the day runs alongside it, and the restaurant hosts a Christmas dinner as a separate winter date, signalling seasonal structure.
The sourcing base is inherently seasonal: berries from the neighbouring beekeeper and soft fruit, grapes and herbs from the restaurant's own food garden, which has operated using food-forest principles for more than five years. What is missing is evidence of a structured quarterly or more frequent rotation: no archived menu sequence is published, and no winter card was located during assessment.
Strongest source Restaurant submission
756 solar panels power heat and cooling; vegetable trimmings go to neighbouring farm; waste is separated on site.
Energy systems: 756 solar panels serve the site, with heat pumps and cooling in the Streekatelier event hall running on that solar electricity. The hall is insulated with stone wool. Refrigeration and freezers are energy efficient and pre-chilled during daylight hours on solar power so they can be turned down overnight. Charging points for electric vehicles stand on site.
Food waste: vegetable trimmings such as lettuce peelings go to the neighbouring pig farm, a closed-loop relationship with a cooperative member. Packaging: separated collection of packaging, paper, glass and garden waste occurs on site, plus a deposit collection point so bottles and cans do not end up in the nature reserve.
The Green Key certificate at gold level, held since July 2020, is awarded to Natuurpoort de Peel itself as a hospitality business, not a parent property, and requires on-site audit. Green Key's own website names the business among those completing the nature-inclusive entrepreneurship module with IVN Natuureducatie. In September 2024 an independent jury awarded the first Groene Pluim in Deurne for environmental and social policy assessed against the seventeen UN Global Goals.
Beef from the neighbouring farm and named dairy producer; heritage pigs supply dried sausage; in-house butchery.
Partial traceability is established for the animal products served. The regional destination body states that beef comes from the neighbours and desserts are made with Leegveldermelk fresh from the farmer. The restaurant names Familie Leeuwen-Manders as the source of milk for cheesecake, yoghurt and cheese, and states that meat comes from its own butchery, so cutting is done in house.
Heritage-breed pigs, a welfare-relevant marker, are kept by Rob van Helmond and supply the dried sausage. A circular link supports the same relationship: the kitchen's vegetable trimmings go to that pig farm. Agricultural press records that the cooperative member Rob van Helmond keeps heritage pig breeds in a half-open barn.
No fish or seafood dish was evidenced on any menu source. The next level is not reached because no welfare or organic certification is held or named for any animal product, no MSC or ASC seafood standard applies, and welfare standards are not described beyond the breed and housing detail for the pigs.
Recognised training company, 35 permanent staff, regularly places Keertwending participants; co-founded farm cooperative.
Fair employment: the business is a recognised training company, employs 35 people on permanent contracts, and regularly places participants through Keertwending, which supports people at a distance from the labour market. Four Keertwending participants worked on site at the time of the Groene Pluim assessment.
Community engagement: the owners co-founded Coöperatie Het Leegveld in 2019 with four neighbouring farming businesses, a structure described as strengthening each other so guests receive regional products straight from the source. In May 2026 the restaurant staged a regional dinner with local farmers whose stated aim was to bring residents into direct contact with farmers and producers and raise awareness of local food. The food garden is opened to the public for guided visits and tastings.
An independent jury of Stichting De Groene Pluim awarded the first Groene Pluim in Deurne in September 2024 explicitly for environmental and social policy assessed against the seventeen UN Global Goals, with the award presented by the municipal alderman. The Green Key gold certificate is corroboration, though not specific to employment or social practice alone.
Vegetarian options on the card; own garden supplies seasonal fruit and herbs, though menu centres on meat and dairy.
Vegetarian dishes are present on the regular card. A restaurant directory records vegetarian options among the dietary provisions, and an accessibility assessment refers to gluten-free buffet options for groups with vegetarian preparations made to order. A diner review names a goat cheese salad among the praised dishes.
The restaurant runs a food garden (Voedseltuin Het Leegveld) at its own address with fruit trees, soft fruit, grapes and herbs, operated on food-forest principles for more than five years and opened to the public for guided visits and tastings. Against that, the menu card is short and centred on regional meat and dairy, with beef from the neighbouring farm, dried sausage and an in-house butchery prominent in the restaurant's own description. No vegan dish is evidenced in any channel, and the card itself could not be fully parsed during screening because the published allergen file exceeds the retrievable size, so the vegetarian share is a data gap.
Strongest source Restaurant submission
Sourcing signals
✓
Direct named-farm sourcing
Voedseltuin Het Leegveld at the restaurant's address operates food-forest principles with fruit trees, soft fruit, grapes, herbs and ground cover, opened to public for guided visits and tastings; the proportion of kitchen ingredients drawn from the garden is not quantified.
Coöperatie Het Leegveld, co-founded by the owners with neighbouring farms on the same road, supplies beef, milk, eggs, honey and sausage directly; Leegvelder beer is brewed for the cooperative at a brewery in Bakel.
The restaurant operates its own butchery for meat cutting, prepares cheesecake, yoghurt and cheese from neighbouring farm milk, and bakes cakes and pastries in-house; herb butter and hot chocolate are also made to order.
