15 March 2023, Netherlands: Construction work is now underway on a new Rijk Zwaan facility for the treatment and storage of vegetable seeds. This marks a further expansion of the vegetable breeding company’s existing facilities in De Lier, the Netherlands. The new building is expected to be fully operational by spring 2025.
Activities performed in the new facility will include seed extraction, seed treatments and seed storage. Besides that, the building will house offices and a multifunctional meeting area for use by employees and visitors.
Rising demand for vegetable seeds
The demand for vegetable seeds is expected to continue to rise, not least due to the growing world population. “By increasing Rijk Zwaan’s capacity for seed treatment and storage, we can continue to meet growers’ needs for high-quality vegetable varieties. At the same time, our new facility will enable us to spread our seed processing and storage activities across multiple locations, thus supporting even better business continuity,” says Hubertien Doldersum, Manager Operations at Rijk Zwaan.
Consideration for the community
The wants and needs of the local community into account in the building plans. Parallel to the ‘Kralingerpad’ cycle path, for example, a public footpath and greenery will be created on the new Rijk Zwaan premises. Moreover, the existing watercourse has been widened to 12 metres to significantly improve drainage away from De Lier.
We are personally keeping local residents up to date about the building plans and related developments.
On Friday 10 March, a number of Rijk Zwaan employees and construction partners got together to ceremoniously drive the first stake into the ground.
