The presence of wide areas of moorland led to the development of sheep farming and related cottage industries, such as the production of yarn, cloth and hats.
Five farmers pooled their interests and founded a partnership, "De Grote Compagnie" (The big company), which set up an organized trade route between Venray and Paris, with fixed staging posts along the way.
Under the Raets, Poels, Camps, Trynes and Vorstermans families the business flourished to such a degree that in 1845 a second outlet market, London, was opened up, to which the sheep were transported from ports such as Harlingen, Medemblik, Rotterdam, and Vlissingen.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the meat trade in the slaughterhouses of Paris, London and Antwerp was dominated by Venray businesses, and until the outbreak of World War II they were the most important producers of bacon and tinned ham in Poland, Hungary, and Canada.
At this gathering the final collective bank balance, a sum of 5,000 guilders, was presented to the parochial church of Venray to finance a new choir stall, which since then serves as a reminder of a unique example of Limburg enterprise.