Petrus Tierenteyn (°1788) started in 1818 a grocery store with mustard being one of the main products. Mustard at that time was made by grinding the mustard seeds in a mortar or with a mustard hand mill. It was a labour intensive work resulting in a very tasty but expensive spice that only the wealthy people could afford. The industrial revolution with the invention of the steam engines facilitated this milling-job largely and made the mustard much cheaper.

Three sons of Petrus, namely Felix, Franciscus-August and Ferdinand (see also the Tierenteyn genealogy), started their own mustard production at the beginning of the 19th century. Mustard production was started in Brussels and Ghent. After one generation the production of Felix in Brussels disappeared, only the 2 in Ghent survived, namely Franciscus August and Ferdinand.

Ferdinand took over the “steam factory” of his father in the “Brugschesteenweg 34” in Ghent. The street name later changed into Bevrijdingsdreef and still later into Emilius Seghersplein. Ferdinand focused from the beginning on selling to wholesalers, while Franciscus August was more interested in selling directly to consumers in his grocery store. The rumour that there was an agreement between the 2 brothers that Ferdinand was not allowed to sell directly to consumers in Ghent is not based on written sources and is not correct. The grocery store of Franciscus August only got famous after his death when his widow remarried Mr. Laquet.

Ferdinand’s son Edmond and grandson Ferdinand continued the flourishing business after his death. Grandson Ferdinand died in 1939 without descendants. His widow Zoë Ghesquière sold the business to another family, namely to Fredegand Meireleire. Mme Ghesquière remarried her husband’s uncle, Felix Tierenteyn, who owned together with his sister Zulma the mustard-store at the Groentenmarkt in Ghent.

The transfer between the Tierenteyn and the Meireleire family did not cause a rupture with the past: the tradition of the company “Oud Huis Ferdinand Tierenteyn” ánd the recipes were minutely transferred to the new owners.

In 1956 the company moved to its new premises in the Sparrestraat 49 in Ghent. The business was continued by Fredegand Meireleire’s daughter, Rolande Meireleire and later on by her son Guy Mortier. He ran de business with his wife Christine Imschoot up to the end of 2008. At that moment the business was taken over by Bernard Desrumaux.

Shortly after the new owner became active, it was decided to move the activity to new premises in order to keep pace with the actual norms of food safety and to assure the future of the Tierenteyn company. So, the company moved on December 19th of the year 2011 from the Sparrestraat in Ghent to the Europalaan in Deinze.

In 2014 the first quality certificate was obtained, a must in the actual food industry.

After decades of silence between the 2 Tierenteyns, Ferdinand Tierenteyn reached the hand in 2014 to Vve Tierenteyn-Verlent offering the opportunity to support together a social event. Though there was no ‘war’ between the 2 Tierenteyn-descendants, the press described the event as the Tierenteyn-peace. Until now, the initiative remained without any further consequences...

With the re-introduction of the Ghentse Pickles in 2016 and the acquisition in 2017 of Vernimmen De Lelie, a local producer of mustard, dressings and vinaigrettes since 1847, Tierenteyn made his first steps towards product-differentation and towards the future...