Gábor Juhász

You can wake him up in the middle of the night for goulash, old-timer fairs and vintage motorcycles. And for a shift at Hofleverancier T. Boer & Zn, of course: sometimes his shift starts at 4:30 in the morning. Gábor Juhász has been enjoying his job at the veal processing company in Nieuwerkerk a/d IJssel for sixteen years now. The 47-year old Hungarian is able to talk about his life and work in fluent Dutch and in a compelling way.

When he was twenty years old he moved from Szolnok to Eilat to work in a hotel. That is where he met Mirjam, his ex-wife and the mother of his daughter Noa. ‘Those were good times,’ recollects Gábor. ‘Ten months of summer, palm trees, our own apartment...’ But then an armed conflict broke out in Israel. He bravely started working as a reservist and a truck driver. A position at T. Boer & Zn saved him from this stressful situation. He currently works there as all-round product manager. ‘I can lend a hand anywhere,’ says Gábor, who takes care of logistics, sorts and crops if necessary, and does many other things. ‘As a former cook, I know everything about hygiene. And I can cut really finely.’ In his scarce spare time, he calls Hungary (‘I chat with my mum for two hours per week’) and tinkers with motorcycles. The Jawa, a forty-year-old two-stroke, is his baby. In addition to his lovely daughter Noa, of course.