Rijk Zwaan is an international vegetable breeding company with over 3500 employees in 30 different countries. All international construction activities are managed from the Netherlands. We have already realised many projects for this client and this year, as always, we are again working on several projects. What makes our relationship so powerful and successful? And which projects have been jointly realized over the years?

The basis of success
Through years of cooperation, we mutually know what we can expect from each other. We complement each other proactively. Jan van der Lee (Engineer, Van der Hoeven) has been one of Rijk Zwaan's contact person for many years and says: "The basis of our success is the mutual trust we have in each other, which you notice during the projects, in every layer of cooperation. In this way we know exactly what we have to each other and how we can help each other further. Everything for an optimal result perfectly tailored to the client and within the predefined frames."

Projects from Dinteloord to Tanzania
During this long-term cooperation, projects have been realized all over the world. Van der Hoeven recently delivered another project and another is in the completion phase. First 'De Hybride', which concerns an entirely new location of 8.5 hectares. The joint goal is to create a breeding facility, so that the breeding result meets the highest quality standards. 'De Hybride' has been operational since the end of last year. Secondly, the ‘Rijk Zwaan Dinteloord’ project of 6 hectares. A special feature of this project is that the cultivation of plant material and fruit production have been brought together in one company. 'Rijk Zwaan Dinteloord' will be commissioned in the course of 2021.

In addition to these current projects, various international projects have been realised for Rijk Zwaan over the years. In Arusha, Tanzania, a facility of 4.5 hectares was built, which serves as a location for seed production. The same goes for the project of almost 4 hectares, which Van der Hoeven realized for ‘Rijk Zwaan Promex’ in Mexico. Roberto Hernandez (Service Engineer, Van der Hoeven) explains: "We as Van der Hoeven can be proud of the fact that we have realized such a high-tech facility in Mexico. This project was a great challenge, but because of the mutual cooperation we have achieved a project of world quality! With this we prove, once again, that we can realize projects of this stature worldwide."

Working as a team
Van der Hoeven has, usually, been Rijk Zwaan's sparring partner from the very start when it comes to new projects in the Netherlands and abroad. "We as Van der Hoeven bring in our knowledge of previously completed projects of Rijk Zwaan, as well as our global experience in other projects, to realize the best solution together," says Menno van den Brink (COO, Van der Hoeven).

Projects are currently being worked on and, at the same time, future projects are already being prepared.