RZ-100-wt4-E-flipbook-240702 - Flipbook - Page 112
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1 The head office in De Lier continues
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This marks the closure of the seed cultivation
until then, three storeys high and 138 metres long.
business that had started it all back in 1929.
It is a state-of-the-art logistics centre where not
2 The Turkish branch in Antalya.
At the time, it was the first big step towards
only the products are stored but the seed also
3 Rijk Zwaan Spain in Almeria.
owning a breeding nursery. Former employees
undergoes the various operations of calibration,
4 The new location in Fijnaart for a
are saddened by the move. Retired employee
priming, pelleting and packaging.
Wesseling: ‘It’s a shame, but I suppose the
All of these operations are highly automated
company is getting something back for it’.
in the new building. This can rightly be called
to grow.
completely new open-soil unit.
another milestone in the company’s long history.
Growth in De Lier
With the realisation of this new building, Rijk Zwaan
A state-of-the-art greenhouse complex is built in
can move forward again – although this will later
De Lier: ‘De Plantage’ (The Plantation’), doubling
turn out to be shorter than initially thought.
the total greenhouse area for seed cultivation.
Specialised employees with a high degree of
Another important step in the anniversary year
expertise and experience in seed cultivation work
(Rijk Zwaan celebrates its 75th anniversary in 1999)
hard here every day. From here, contacts are main-
is the purchase of land in Fijnaart (North Brabant)
tained with Dutch contract growers who also
to set up an open-soil breeding company. This is
account for part of the seed production. Another
necessary because the open-soil location in Hendrik-
part of the seed production process takes place
Ido-Ambacht is being expropriated for housing
outside the Netherlands. Depending on the crop
development and the construction of the Betuwe
from which seed is produced, the batch size and
railway line. Moreover, the open-soil operations in
the stage of a variety, the company opts for
De Lier have to make way for greenhouses.
production in-house, by Dutch contract growers
or growers in other countries. De Zaailing (‘The
The search by Maarten Zwaan and farm manager
‘Seedling’), a new research centre with adapted
Bas van Kuijk for the ideal contiguous plot of land
greenhouses for seed technology and quality
of over 50 hectares, which will also provide enough
control, is built in 1997.
space for further future expansion, is proving to
be a big challenge. Eventually, they stumble upon
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In 1999, Rijk Zwaan makes its biggest investment to
an ideal 65-hectare plot of land in Fijnaart. In the
date. An entirely new Seed Technological Centre
following years, a very modern breeding facility will
(ZTC) is constructed on Burgemeester Crezeelaan.
be built there that gives new impetus to breeding
This is a building of a scale unknown to Rijk Zwaan
open-soil crops in the coming years.
Rijk Zwaan | Moving forward together
