Once home, he showed his new purchases to brother-in-law and business partner Jan Veldman. Together, they soon realised that this device had huge business potential. They knew that the Dutch electric fence of the time was weak and ineffective, and especially at the time when grass was growing against it. The two farmers were convinced that this new and much more powerful device would sell well among Dutch sheep farmers, who were facing significant costs in their traditional fencing.
They wrote to Bill Gallagher of New Zealand, asking for more information.
During a dark, stormy night in the spring of 1977, the Dijkstra family were sitting around the fireplace at their farmhouse in Adorp when they heard someone tapping on the window. ´Who could that be?´ they asked themselves. The family’s farm was in the middle of the countryside, just outside Groningen. It was raining and there were no lights outside. No one normally knocked on the window; when visitors came, they just walked in.
The family let the stranger in. He introduced himself as Bill Gallagher. One of the Dijkstra’s had written to him and now he had come over from New Zealand to talk about electric fencing. Bill started talking about his company, its origins, and why his electric fence devices were so good. Dooitze’s English was not very good, but Erik and his younger brother Meindert understood him only too well. Another visit from Gallagher followed in October, and a little later Veldman & Dijkstra was awarded the distribution rights of the Gallagher Energiser for the Netherlands
