A Brief History of Global Trade

Founded in 1602, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) revolutionized global trade. The VOC was the world's first multinational corporation and the largest and wealthiest company in history. By 1669, the VOC was worth $7.9 trillion, which is more than the net worth of modern America's top twenty Fortune 500 corporations combined!

   Following in the footsteps of his Dutch East India predecessors, Food World's founder Mike Costello spent decades building a global network of reputable manufacturers and customers. Since 1977, Mike has traded a wide range of quality products, including shelf stable private label foods, across 65+ countries and 4 war zones.

The Dutch state granted VOC the sovereign power to coin money enabling them to buy goods from their overseas vendors. Food World cannot print its own money, but we have the financial strength to pay our vendors cash upfront while at the same time extending credit terms to our valued customers.

International logistics were dominated by monopolies like the Dutch East India Company, who institutionalized early forwarding practices by controlling the entire supply chain -- from their distant trading posts in the East Indies to their warehouses back in Amsterdam. Food World now coordinates ocean freight for its customers utilizing real‑time rate visibility and ocean container tracking.

Operating with quasi-government powers, The Dutch East India Company handled customs clearance through a combination of diplomatic negotiation, military enforcement and domestic tax exemptions. Nowadays, Food World offers its customers import document compliance, duty drawback assistance and coordination with customs brokers to ensure efficient entry into the USA.

The VOC transported goods from Dutch ports to their inland warehouses via the highly efficient network of canals, rivers and coastal waterways that characterized the Dutch Republic.  Today, Food World utilizes real‑time inland freight solutions from major international ports to any warehouse facility in the world, including lane optimization and carrier management.

 VOC's warehouses were huge, multi-storied brick structures. Some were 200-yards long and were designed to store textiles, spices, tea and other delicacies  "extracted" from the East Indies and other corners of the world. Food World now uses FDA certified & temperature-controlled warehouses with real-time inventory visibility and B2B fulfillment capabilities.

For two hundred years, the VOC managed their inventory using a ledger based system called realia.  Realia gave the VOC a centralized accounting system that enabled them to track their goods stored at distant trading posts, stowed aboard ships and stocked in their Dutch warehouses. Today, Food World uses EDI to manage its inventory stored in warehouses across the USA.

Food World still offers door-to-door delivery service first pioneered by The Dutch East India Company. However, 400-years ago, the VOC lacked the technologies that now enable Food World to move food products from overseas factories to U.S. warehouses in mere weeks -- or even days via air freight -- rather than the years it took VOC back in the 17th & 18th centuries!

The Dutch East India Company™ name & logo are now trademarks of Mike Costello -- just for the hell of it.