Ecotone (company)
| File:Logo wessanen blue W.jpg | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Food processing |
| Founded | 1765 |
| Founder | Adriaan Wessanen and Dirk Laan |
| Headquarters | Utrecht , The Netherlands |
Key people | A.H.A. Veenhof (CEO) |
| Revenue | € 25 million (2005) |
| € 1876.8 million (2005) | |
Number of employees |  7300 |
| Website | www.wessanen.com |
Royal Wessanen NV is an multinational food company, founded and headquartered in the Netherlands. It has operations in Europe and North-America. Worlwide it has more than 7300 employees (2005). In 2005, the company realised a net income of € 1876.8 million and a revenue of € 25 million. Royal Wessanen is listed at Euronext Amsterdam.
History
'Wessanen en Laan' was founded in 1765 by Adriaan Wessanen and Dirk Laan to trade in ‘Mustard, Canary and other seeds’. The company flourished as new uses were found for all sorts of seeds. It was helped by the contemporary popularity for keeping caged birds, particularly canaries. At the beginning of the 19th century, the landscape around the Zaan river was dominated by merchants’ houses, their warehouses and, most distinctively, their windmills. In the pre-industrial age, the windmills functioned as sophisticated processing plants, using wind power to crush, grind and mix all manner of ingredients. Wessanen was by the start of the 20th century a large company, and following the award of royal warrants it was now known as NV Wessanen Koninklijke Fabrieken (royal factories). With a diversified global sales market, it was able to survive war, tariff barriers and the demise of colonialism. But it was still a typically Dutch company, with production facilities on the Zaan River.
Activities
Wessanen is both a producer and a distributer of natural and organic products (Health products) and quality food products (Premium Taste). In Europe Wessanen is, next to the Netherlands (Wessanen Netherlands and Natudis Netherlands), active in Belgium (Wessanen Belgium and Natudis Belgium), Germany (Allos Walter Lang, Tartex + Dr Ritter, Natudis Germany and CoSa Naturprodukte), France (Distriborg Groupe), the United Kingdom (Kallo Foods and Tree of Life UK) and Italy (Righi and Bio Slym). In North-America Wessanen is active in the United States of America (Tree of Life, American Beverage Company and PANOS), and in Canada (Tree of Life).
Board of Directors
Executive Board
- A.H.A. Veenhof, CEO
- H. Wagter, CFO
- K.R. Lane, President North America
- N.R. Onkenhout, President Europe
