Nov. 3, 2014, De Lier, the Netherlands — Rijk Zwaan has again being named the winner of the Hillenraad 100, the annual list of the hundred most significant companies in Dutch greenhouse horticulture.
This marks the fifth time that the vegetable breeding company has won the prestigious award, which this year was presented by Sharon Dijksma, Dutch state secretary for economic affairs.
“At Rijk Zwaan everything revolves around people, from start to finish,” noted the jury report.
“Employees are encouraged to display their creativity and entrepreneurialism without limitation. The organization actively seeks interaction with consumers, such as through its ‘Love My Salad’ Facebook page.
“And in the context of the company’s motto of ‘Sharing a healthy future,’ it celebrates growers’ achievements and embraces collaboration with strategic partners. The result of all this is an extremely solid organization which presents new developments and products in rapid succession, year after year. A robust, top-level company where the people make the difference.”
Rijk Zwaan didn’t take it for granted that it would win the award again this year,” explains Marco van Leeuwen, managing director of Rijk Zwaan.
“A breeding company is a complex entity in which long-term success depends on getting all the individual details right. Our highly competent employees are crucial to this, as are our dependable partners whom we have known for many years. We work closely together to develop new collaborative models and marketing concepts in the aim of increasing the entire sector’s earning capacity.”
Rijk Zwaan invests 30 per cent of its profits in R&D.
During the awards ceremony, Van Leeuwen emphasized the importance of contributing to a positive image for the greenhouse horticulture sector, and the key role businesses play in doing this.
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