When a plant nursery gets to call itself a supplier of 45 years for a grower, that's cause for celebration. Globe Plant thought so too, and threw a party. Tomato grower Van Heijningen got a beautiful cake for this joyful occasion.
Johan Grootscholten with Globe Plant: "It sounds so familiar and common, but actually it is very special. It's really cool when a nursery sells plants to the very same customer for 45 years."
Van Heijningen used to grow the tomatoes in greenhouses in Honselerdijk (the Netherlands). He bought his first tomato plants from Globe Plant in 1975-1976. Albert Grootscholten was still head of the company back then. The first plants for Van Heijningen came from the brand new greenhouse which was also in Honselersdijk.
At the end of the 1970s, Van Heijningen moved to rockwool. For nursery Globe Plant, these were the first tomatoes that were grown in rockwool pots. Johan: "We grew alongside Van Heijningen."
Family company
Tomato grower Van Heijningen is a real family company with a no-nonsense working mentality. When Johan Grootscholten visits, he always sees mother Joke in the greenhouse, busy with the cultivation. Father Jan helps and checks. And now the sons, the current directors, John and Johan Van Heijningen take care of the strategic and logistic lines.
Both moved
Even after Globe Plant moved to Vierpolders in 2000, Van Heijningen remained a customer. In that same year, the Van Heijningen family moved from Honselersdijk to Maasdijk and John and Johan got into the company with their parents. They remained loyal to Globe Plant regarding the loose tomato cultivation. And... they started with non-grafted plants and a few years later grafted and topped plants.
Grafted, topped tomato plants, zoomed in
Connection
The collaboration wasn't always all good. The Van Heijningen family also bought plants from a different supplier once. That was around the time of the Clavibacter. They were aware of spreading their risks. Johan Grootscholten: "Despite this, the connection remained. The connection can be attributed to what they got from Globe Plant: carefully nursed plants."
Johan Grootscholten is content with Tomatenkwekerij Van Heijningen. They are critical and constructive thinkers: "We strictly adhere to the clearly agreed upon specifications of the cultivation."
For more information: 
Globe Plant
www.globeplant.nl
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