What happens when your goal is to make a positive contribution to this world while being an entrepreneur? Then you focus on sustainable solutions, and constantly look for new opportunities. This is the story of the Houweling Group, a family business that has 220 employees. In 1925, Houweling Horticulture laid the foundation for this group under the lead of Jaco de Vries. Today, it is a respected distributor of shading agents, biostimulants and hygiene & cleaning agents. Jaco's goal is to further expand this portfolio, and to contribute to the company's internationalization process.
Expansion opportunities
Next year, the company will celebrate its 100th anniversary. Over the course of time, a lot has happened, Jaco explains. "Marc Houweling's great-grandfather came from a family of growers. Even back then, produce that was grown horizontally under flat glass could suffer from sun damage. For that reason, he developed shading agents to lubricate the low, flat glasshouses." In addition, he also included cleaning agents in the company's early range (because one percent more light is one percent more yield).
Packaging from the port of Rotterdam
To supply those agents, packaging was also needed. "They started visiting the Rotterdam food industry (like Melkunie and Coca-cola) where a lot of packaging was emptied and thrown away. They collected the packaging, cleaned it, and used it to deliver their own products. This was a success, and they started to sell clean packaging to other companies." This is how the company entered the packaging industry in the 1960s.
Soon, Houweling started to supply new packaging. "They went to Germany to some big manufacturers to buy new plastic packaging, such as jerry cans, buckets, drums and IBCs. It was in those years that the packaging business experienced most of its growth." The containers went to all kinds of sectors including the oil and pharmaceutical ones - and of course, the company also offered to collect and clean containers for reuse.
Protecting and stimulating plants
Aside from the packaging business, and the Houweling Safety division, Houweling Horticulture is an important branch of the Houweling Group. "We protect and stimulate the plant in a sustainable way," he says. Initially, the company provided shading agents, later they expanded to include cleaning & hygiene products and biostimulants. Moreover, the group acquired companies to sell the products they produced under the Houweling name.
From an export company to an international company
Currently, Houweling Horticulture is in a transition process to become an international company. "Two years ago, we were already exporting to more than 30 countries. Now we want to become an international company with local branches that can support our partners and distributors."
The oldest foreign Houweling branch is the one in Romania. "We opened it in 2007 to produce shading products in this country. A few years before the opening, Houweling had purchased a mine in Romania." One of the raw materials for the shading agents is calcium carbonate, which is extracted from that mine. In the factory in Romania, this raw material is processed into a powder which forms the basis for the shading agents.
According to Jaco, liquid shading agents are the norm in the Netherlands, while powder is preferred in other parts of the world. "The main reason for this is the cost price. Liquid shading agents contain a lot of water, which results in high transport costs. Powder is a cheaper alternative. The powder can be mixed on site at the customer's premises. Our powders are and were already much more environmentally friendly than the liquid shading agents."
Biodegradable shading agents
Jaco: "Another advantage of our shading agents in powder form is that they are biodegradable, and therefore sustainable." Houweling was keen to also develop a powder-based liquid that is also biodegradable. After a development process of some seven to eight years, the agent, Bright Eco-Coating, was introduced at GreenTech last year.
"It is the first liquid shading agent that is biodegradable and completely free of microplastics. The latter will be particularly important in the future, as the EU has passed a law that bans microplastics in horticultural products from 2028 onwards."
Further foreign expansion
In addition to the branch in Romania, Houweling Horticulture also has a branch in Ontario, Canada, since 2019. "And eighteen months ago, we opened our second branch in Surrey, British Columbia. From those locations, we want to serve all of North America."
Moreover, Houweling is a partner of Signify in Canada. "As we stimulate plant sustainably, we also sell lighting, we exclusively offer LED lamps. In addition, we are also a distributor of Dutch Plantin in Canada."
The Spanish market is another important market for Houweling. "Since last year, we have an account manager in this country to prepare for the next step, a Houweling entity in Spain. In Romania, we have set up a sales organization to serve the market in Eastern Europe."
Intracare in horticulture
Aside from shading agents, biostimulants and biocides are also important product groups for Houweling. The company has sales rights for Intracare's horticultural products. Jaco explains why. "Actually, Intracare got into horticulture thanks to us. One day, Marc Houweling was at Intracare for the packaging. He talked to Jan van Geest (the owner of Intracare), and saw that the biocides they were supplying to the livestock industry. He then said: 'What works in this there must surely also work in horticulture.'" His offer to distribute the biocides in international horticulture was accepted. This is how Intracare got involved in international horticulture."
Focus on sustainability
In the future, Houweling wants to remain a family business. The company has no ambition to become one of the biggest companies, says Jaco. "We want to make an important contribution to sustainability."
Jaco gives an example from the company's packaging division. "At the time, they went to the big plastic packaging manufacturers with the request to make new packaging from recycled materials. They didn't really believe this was possible in those days, so five or six years ago Houweling built its own factory in Bleiswijk (the Netherlands) to do so." It wasn't easy in the beginning, but now Houweling has even managed to make new packaging from recycled plastic, and even plastic soup from the ocean.
It marks the importance the company attaches to sustainability. "Based on our Christian identity, we see our contribution in horticulture as a form of stewardship. This is why we focus on sustainability, to leave a greener world for future generations."
For more information:
Houweling Group
Tel: +31 88 1210400
[email protected]
www.houweling.com