DutchNews.nl - DutchNews.nl brings daily news from The Netherlands in English

23 May 2025
Newsletter Donate Advertise
  • News
  • Life in the Netherlands
  • Jobs
  • Podcast
  • About us
  • Search
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Art and culture
  • Sport
  • Europe
  • Society
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Housing
  • Education
  • News
    • Home
    • Economy
    • Art and culture
    • Sport
    • Europe
    • Society
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
    • Education
  • Life in the Netherlands
    • Latest
    • Opinion
    • Books
    • Travel
    • 10 Questions
    • Learning Dutch
    • Inburgering with DN
    • Food & Drink
    • Ask us anything
  • Jobs
  • Podcast
  • About us
    • Team
    • Donate
    • Advertise
    • Writing for Dutch News
    • Contact us
    • Privacy
    • Newsletter
  • Search

Crompouce crackdown: half baked fad may mean big bucks

November 16, 2023 Brandon Hartley
Crompouce on sale at Albert Heijn. Photo: Brandon Hartley

In recent months, the crompouce has become a sensation in the Netherlands. The pastry, one part tompouce and one part croissant, is currently available in bakeries and grocery stores across the country. It also inspired an ongoing fad on TikTok.

But what has delighted those with a sweet tooth and social media mavens alike took a dramatic turn earlier this month when a baker named Ulrika Menig, the owner of the currently closed Bammetje Bakery in Utrecht, began claiming she’s the one who came up with the crompouce in 2020 and was selling it the following spring. She’s also called in the lawyers.

The crompouce started making waves earlier this year when it began popping up in various places around the Netherlands and in online photos and videos on social media. In the many months that followed, others decided to start making and selling them.

It’s become one of Bakker van Maanen’s top sellers and the company opened a ‘pop up’ House of Crompouce in Amsterdam on 8 November that sells other flavours including pistachio and dulce de leche.

Jumbo and Albert Heijn cashed in on the craze and AH now stocks them in their bakery sections and sells them online. Meanwhile on TikTok, various businesses around the country have shared crazier varieties featuring everything from fried fish to bagels.

The kibbelpouce. Photo: Matthijs van Eersel

But Menig now says these stores are violating her claims to the crompouce. She’s hired a legal team and they’ve begun contacting bakeries and other businesses about their infringements on her patent.

“I felt strengthened by the massive positive reactions through all kinds of media and knew that this product I had developed was here to stay,” she wrote on the bakery’s Instagram account on November 14, the first posting since November 2021.

The inventor

The true creator is currently the subject of debate. A baker at Bakkerij Koppejan in Meliskerke in Zeeland claims he’s sold the pastry for 30 years, but he calls it roze flap [pink flap]. His version sells for €1.92 and it’s listed on the menu of his bakery’s website.

Meanwhile, Menig and her lawyers are continuing their crompouce crackdown. Visitors to her bakery’s website will find a stern legal rundown.

“Crompouce ® is a protected trademark and copyrighted design,” the text on the website says. “If you would like to be able to sell this beautiful product in your bakery, you can contact us for a collaboration. We are prepared to make licensing agreements with some parties.”

According to BOIP, the trademark register, Menig and her bakery at least owns the brand name ‘crompouce.’ The filing date is listed as October 15, 2020. However, according to the register, the rights were transferred to them on November 2 2023. The reasons why are unclear and it could simply be an administrative correction. Menig did not respond to requests for clarification.

Crompouce on sale at a bakery in Amsterdam. Photo: Lauren Comiteau

Bakker van Maanen, meanwhile, started selling crompouce last winter. “We’ve sold this product since February as a joke, beginning with our tompouce festival, not knowing it would be mentioned again in the media in September,” owner Henk-Jan van Maanen told Dutch News.

The chain now sells thousands of crompouce each day across 65 locations. And Van Maanen has agreed to Menig’s terms to keep them on his bakery’s shelves.

“Last week we made agreements to licence it, so we will continue to sell the product,” he said. “I would have liked to see it remain available to all artisan bakers, so that we would give them all a nice turnover boost. Unfortunately, that plea was not accepted. I was willing to buy it from Menig. My thought is if you can divide, you can also multiply.”

And the rest?

It’s unclear whether or not Jumbo, Albert Heijn, and various bakeries around the country will also agree to Menig’s terms. Dutch News contacted Jumbo and Albert Heijn for further information but they did not respond.

Van Maanen, meanwhile, admitted he was frustrated with the situation.

“This product has grown in a month via social media, we have contributed to that, and we are very proud of that,” he said. “You have to respect the fact that it is now such a success and that is also because everyone has picked it up.”

“Claiming a brand now is not nice and does not fit in with the positive vibe surrounding the product,” Van Maanen added. “I would have liked to see that differently, but I have to respect the trademark. For now we would like to look ahead and we are proud of the House of Crompouce in Amsterdam.”

Meanwhile copyright lawyers have told news website Nu.nl that Menig would have a hard time proving her case in court. The name is a clever compilation but the idea behind the product, a croissant filled with custard and with pink icing, “can’t be copyrighted,” lawyer Radboud Ribbert told the website.

Update November 17: Both Albert Heijn and Jumbo say they will continue to sell the product but under the name “tompouce croissant”.

Share this article
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Copy URL
Business Court cases Society
Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation
Latest
Show more
Fewer international students starting bachelor degrees in NL
MPs urge cabinet to join banned Pride march in Budapest
Dutch house prices up 10% on a year ago, latest figures show
Foundations and the future: what you need to think about
Highway to hell: confessions of a would-be Ring reveller
NewsHomeEconomyArt and cultureSportEuropeSocietyEnvironmentHealthHousingEducation
Life in the NetherlandsLatestOpinionBooksTravel10 QuestionsLearning DutchInburgering with DNFood & DrinkAsk us anything
About usTeamDonateAdvertiseWriting for Dutch NewsContact usPrivacyNewsletter
© 2025 DutchNews | Cookie settings

Help us to keep providing you information about coronavirus in the Netherlands.

Many thanks to everyone who has donated to DutchNews.nl in recent days!

We could not provide this service without you. If you have not yet made a contribution, you can do so here.

The DutchNews.nl team

Donate now

Dutchnews Survey

Please help us making DutchNews.nl a better read by taking part in a short survey.

Take part now