Steven Koster is owner of PUURland, an on-line shopping service for regional and biological products in the Arnhem region in the eastern part of The Netherlands.

Steven: “In order to make it as easy as possible for my customers I develop four new meals per week with regional seasonal products. It is not a vegetable service or online supermarket but a delivery service for complete meals to be prepared at home”.

PUURland was the first company to buy an electric cargobike through the PRO-E-BIKE project. Steven collects the various products from his suppliers with an electric Urban Arrow cargo bike, and the same cargo bike is also used to deliver the ingredients to the customers at home. Steven: “First I used my Volvo V70 to collect and deliver the goods, but in July 2013 I bought the e-cargobike, because it is more efficient in the city, more environment friendly and cheaper. Although the investment is substantial (¤4100), the operational costs are nearly zero. I don’t pay gasoline, no road tax and hardly any insurance premium.”

PUURland currently has approximately 40 clients and on average delivers 10-15 customers per week in three runs. This means an average 50 kilometres per week, which makes a good physical exercise for the 43-year old Steven. In addition he uses the e-cargobike to move around for his other societal and environmental engagements, for which the e-cargobike is a very good ‘advertisement’. The electric support is needed, not so much for the weight of the ‘cargo’ (on average 20 kg), but mainly for the relatively hilly area of the Arnhem region, in the overall flat Netherlands. So far Steven is very positive about the e-cargobike. There have been some technical problems, which however were quickly and appropriately solved by the manufacturer.

Steven is pleasantly surprised by the positive reaction on the use of the e-cargobike: “In addition to the ease of use of the e-cargobike in the city of Arnhem and the sustainability of the e-cargobike I’m positively surprised with the attention it creates. Regularly people tell me they know me because of my e-cargobike. This is of course very positive for the image of my company!” The e-cargobike has not only changed the way he does business, it actually has led to a mental shift in which Steven now also uses the e-cargobike for private trips, such as shopping and going to the market.

ECF is a proud partner in this innovative project and will meet up with project partners and pilots in Linkoping, Sweden at the end of September 2014.