Oos Kesbeke (l) with employee Daan in De Augurkenkoning.
Screenshot: Videoland / The Gherkin King
The Gherkin King Last night did not have the happiest episode of the so successful first season. It really seemed like a lot of misery in the pickles and pickles company in Amsterdam. And that’s what owner Oos Kesbeke calls the misery. At the same time, he is applauded by the many viewers: “Dear people” and “what a beautiful and wonderful company”.
The Gherkin King is an unexpected ratings success on RTL 5 and Videoland this autumn. Reality TV about families is doing well anyway, if you also look at the bizarre figures Chateau Meiland sees again. Only Mass is Cash lags somewhat behind on SBS6, but the reason for this does not seem difficult to determine.
“Oos Kesbeke is the new star of this TV season,” said ratings expert (and crit) Tina Nijkamp on Instagram this morning. She sees that The Gherkin King with almost half a million viewers it only scored slightly less than I Can See Your Voice and Where Is My Legacy on much larger channels, but that Kesbeke attracts many more people from the main advertising target group (25-54 years). There are also many postponed viewers and people who want to watch an episode The Gherkin King look ahead on Videoland, at.
The bucket of misery in De Gurkenkoning
What went wrong (again) in the family business in Bos en Lommer in Amsterdam-West? Previously it was in The Gherkin King to see that a new, very expensive machine was not running properly and that the installation took weeks longer than planned. The ‘damn thing’ is still not running properly. The result: many shelves in stores are empty because Kesbeke products are missing. “In 75 years, this company has never experienced that,” says Oos Kesbeke, deeply disappointed. He visits one of the supermarkets near the capital to see it for himself. “They were still nice,” he notes with some relief after the personal visit.
Painful nail and Duracell Daan
Not being able to deliver is of course the biggest misery, but that’s okay The Gherkin King also some smaller suffering. The always ingrown nail of Oos Kesbeke’s big toe, for example, where the viewer only has to endure the treatment for a short time.
Busy employee Daan, sometimes called ‘Duracell Daan’ on social media, has much bigger foot problems. He walks, no, runs, about 30,000 to 40,000 steps a day through the company in rain boots and prefers not to outsource any job. Gherkin King Kesbeke always sees the smoke coming from under those boots. “I have to buy three pairs for that boy every year.” Kesbeke intervenes and tells his employee: “This is not good, you are going to hell like this. I’ve been saying to you a hundred, a thousand times, ‘Daan, calm down’. You’re not going to keep this up.” Time for real action. The entrepreneur personally drives Daan to a pedicure where he is fitted with good work shoes for his sweaty feet, instead of those eternal boots. Because, Kesbeke believes: “I would prefer to have ten Daans.”
Gherkin King and a dismissal
Another employee also had many opportunities, but was rejected The Gherkin King fired last night. He often showed up at work drunk, but Kesbeke kept his hand over his head for a long time. Now viewers saw him explain in clear but calm language that it was no longer possible. The behavior became too dangerous for colleagues in the pickle factory. “Everyone deserves a second chance,” Kesbeke says into the camera. “But it ends at some point.” To the man himself: “Please stop drinking, make something of your life.”
When the pickle king of Amsterdam also develops a stomach ulcer due to all the stress, Kesbeke also intervenes for himself. For some time now he has been regularly found at a care farm near his city. Adults work there under supervision and, yes, they now also grow pickles. Kesbeke wants them to get much more water, simply with a pump from the ditch. But that doesn’t work. “We use a watering can.” Then Oos Kesbeke focuses on giving a course on how to properly put those pickles in a jar. He actually manages to get the care farm to sell the jars of pickles it produces in a supermarket.
And that’s what viewers are so into The Gherkin King appeals. People think Kesbeke is a nice company to see and boss Oos is a sweet, nice guy. Here you can read some reactions.
The Gherkin King still has one week to go on RTL 5. All six episodes can be seen on Videoland.
Lisa Westerveld (GroenLinks-PvdA), passionate and threatened: ‘Am I going to say something or not?’
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