RZ-100-wt4-E-flipbook-240702 - Flipbook - Page 70
The book Two Centuries of Horticultural Seed
Dip
published by the NTZ (Dutch Horticultural Seed
The tide turns for Rijk Zwaan at the end of the
Industry Association) describes him as follows:
1970s. The figures for 1977 are still positive, but
from then on results at Rijk Zwaan start to come
‘Rijk Zwaan is a striking example
under pressure. At the head office in De Lier, they
of the emotion that can play a role
keep a cool head and continue on their chosen
in plant breeding.’ Alluding to Rijk Zwaan’s
Herman Beeftink takes over from
late conversion to making hybrid varieties.’
path. Particularly foreign sales are paid more
attention. Jaap Zwaan travels to the United States
in that year to look into the sales opportunities for
Willem Tintel, 1974.
With the death of Rijk Zwaan, the seed industry
cauliflower and radish. Based on his findings, the
hasn’t just lost a man who did so much for the
company carefully starts selling the cauliflower
development of the craft, but also a striking
variety Silver Star on the North American continent
personality who remained a practical breeder
in the years that follow.
all his life and turned ‘Zwaan breeding’ into a
hallmark.
A pilot plant is also launched in Crete to breed
tomatoes and cucumbers, led by Jaap Zwaan.
Although the costs for this project are high, the
company deems these activities necessary for a
healthy future for Rijk Zwaan. Jaap Zwaan refers to
this at a management meeting in 1978:
‘Although the initial costs are high, they are certainly
not unjusti昀椀ed when taking the results of our
breeding work (cucumbers - tomatoes) into account.
On the contrary! We simply have to adapt our
research to the developments taking place in the horticulture sector. If we don’t, we will fall irrevocably
behind, and we know from past experience that once
this happens, it is virtually impossible to catch up. It
is inevitable that this operating method often incurs
extra costs.’
This vision clearly shows that the company needs
to adapt to survive in a future where much of its
vegetable production is in Mediterranean areas.
The motto of founder Rijk Zwaan, ‘Never give up’,
still proves to be applicable: at Rijk Zwaan, people
never even consider giving up.
68
Rijk Zwaan | Moving forward together
