Our organisation

Van Gog Kwekerijen has a flat organisational structure with short lines. Decisions are made quickly in a pleasant, informal work atmosphere. The board and management are close to the employees and value their efforts and contributions. The involvement in our beautiful products can be felt everywhere in the organisation. Within our ranks, we have a lot of knowledge and experience about sustainability and innovative cultivation. Van Gog Kwekerijen is a reliable partner for suppliers and customers. Open and honest, without frills. Because that is just how we are.

From then to now
Van Gog Kwekerijen is a real Brabant company. Hard-working, not too worried when there are setbacks and being a proper employer are qualities that have proven valuable through the years.

Broer van Gog and his wife Annie began the nursery on the Klotterkuil in Deurne as newlyweds in 1967. Until that time, he had grown vegetables with his father in Griendtsveen, so Broer knew the ropes. The Klotterkuil soil was extremely well-suited for horticulture and provided abundant vegetables such as leeks, cauliflower and beans. Broer brought dozens of wooden cases full of vegetables on a daily basis to the Coöperatieve Tuinbouwvereniging Deurne (Deurne Cooperative Horticultural Association). Very quickly a first greenhouse was built, initially for the cultivation of lettuce and gherkins. Tomatoes were added later. Due to these changes and the growth of the company, Broer himself became the leader at the Coöperatieve Veilingvereniging Venlo (Venlo Cooperative Auction Association). Every day he drove his vegetables in a small van to the auction.

Broer and Annie had three children in those years: Pieter, Marion and Johan. Their love for growing vegetables was kindled at an early age. But that is not a surprise when your crib was sometimes literally in the greenhouse while your parents were working. The children grew up in and around the greenhouses and always helped out. There was a pleasant prevailing hustle and bustle. The people who worked there all came from the neighbourhood. Many young people from Zeilberg earned their first spending money by helping out in the greenhouses on Saturdays and during the holidays.

Because all three Van Gog children wanted to continue further in horticulture, expansion in Helmond began in the early 1990s. A greenhouse of three ha was built, followed a few years later by a second greenhouse of two ha. Beefsteak tomatoes were grown here first and later vine tomatoes.

Fate struck the Van Gog family hard in the late 1990s. Father died in 1997 at the age of 58. Johan died in a motorcycle accident in 1999 at the age of 25. Pieter and Marion continue the company together, with mother Annie in the background, always keeping a close eye on everything.

The company expanded considerably in the first decade after 2000. An existing nursery of ten ha in Horst was purchased. Two greenhouses in Helmond were added, bringing the total to 14 ha. Land was also purchased in Asten for new greenhouses of 12.5 ha.

In 2008, Van Gog made the switch from vine tomatoes to high-wire cucumber cultivation at the location in Helmond. Asten also switched to cucumbers a few years later. In addition to cultivating vine tomatoes, Horst was a test garden for various other products. Since 2022, only strawberries and cucumbers are cultivated.

In order to better serve the market in Germany, Pieter and Marion, together with entrepreneur Wichard Schrieks, began a nursery for tomatoes, peppers and strawberries in Wittenberg in 2009. Products here are grown locally for German customers.

The businesses in Helmond, Asten and Deurne were hit severely by a hailstorm in June 2016. All harvests were lost. The greenhouses in Helmond and Asten were repaired as quickly as possible and were fortunately back in full production starting in 2017. The greenhouse in Deurne, where father Van Gog once began, was later demolished.

Pieter withdrew from the company in 2019. Since then, Marion van Gog is Director of Van Gog Kwekerijen in the Netherlands. She and Wichard Schrieks are the management in Germany.