People in the Netherlands don’t bat an eye when an out-of-breath mother cycles by with her brood in a bakfiets. Also known as a cargo bike or carrier cycle in English, the bakfiets is about to take the world by storm, say the owners of the Fietsfabriek, a company that manufactures and sells the practical and popular bikes.

Tulips, windmills and the Fietsfabriek: all quintessentially Dutch. When foreign film crews come to the Netherlands, they often visit the Fietsfabriek shop in Amsterdam. “France, Belgium, Japan, Germany, Spain, South Korea, Russia and the United States” - owner Dave Deutsch lists the countries where bakfietsen have been featured on television. Film crews come mainly for the really photogenic showroom models such as the tall man’s bike, the cycle without a chain guard, the unicycle and of course, their number one hit – the bakfiets.

Dutch trend
Bakfietsen have actually been around for some time, but it wasn’t until the late 1990s that they became popular with young parents. Children, shopping, the baby seat… there’s room for everyone and everything. The Fietsfabriek, established in 2004, took advantage of the trend by making bakfietsen in all shapes and sizes. The company sells 2500 bikes per year in the Netherlands; 500 are shipped abroad.

Global potential
Dave Deutsch sees global market potential for his bikes: “You see cycle paths being made in places all over the world. It used to be just the poor who cycled, but now it’s also the creative types who no longer wish to drive five blocks to take their children to school.”

Japan and South Korea
Most of the bicycles sold abroad are sold though a dealer network. They go to bike shops in Europe or further afield, like Tokyo for example. “We export approximately 10 to 20 bikes to Tokyo each year. The Japanese appreciate quality and are already skilled cyclists. It’s not only Dutch expats who buy bakfietsen in Japan, it’s also the Japanese.

Dozens of Fietsfabriek bicycles can be found at a theme park in South Korea. “They’ve built a Dutch village that’s very well-known there,” Deutsch explains. “We sold them some of our bikes which they use as props for taking pictures.”

Germany
The Fietsfabriek has two shops in Berlin. This is where the global adventure began back in 2005. Yalçin Cihangir, joint proprietor of the company, came across a suitable building. “It was a former auto factory with unfinished walls and an engine suspension system. Berlin wasn’t very expensive. We thought we’d lease the building and see what happens.”

One of Mr Cihangir’s former employers, for whom he worked as a dishwasher, liked the idea of moving to Berlin to set up shop. They opened a second showroom there six months ago. Bakfietsen still turn heads in Germany, Deutsch says. “One of my customers told me that when he cycles in Munich - a rich city - he gets more attention than the owners of all the Rolls-Royces and Ferraris on the streets there.”

United States
A few months ago, the Fietsfabriek opened an outlet in Chicago which is run by an American. “This man, Jon Lind, worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Netherlands and fell in love with our bikes. He went back to the US with a couple containers full.” People don’t really cycle much in the US, says Deutsch, but they are making cycle paths in Chicago and New York.

“The US needs to undergo a cultural switch. It’ll take some time before Americans leave their cars in the drive and take their bikes instead. But they are increasingly health-conscious and cycling fits in with a healthy lifestyle. Moreover, Obama wants to help Americans give up their addiction to oil. Travel distances in the US are greater, but Americans could easily visit friends, or take their kids to school by bike.”

Small profit
The export of Fietsfabriek bicycles is not yet very profitable. The parts are made in a Turkish factory in Cihangir’s birthplace, assembled in Amsterdam, and then packed in containers and shipped abroad. It’s a costly procedure. “We are currently making a small profit, but we see it more as a long-term investment. I may not be rich, but I feel wealthy as I walk through the streets of Amsterdam and see all those people on my bikes.”

Lead photo: FaceMePLS at Flickr