Rijk Zwaan builds a second facility for seed treatment and storage in De Lier, the 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.

Artist rendering of the new facility

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.

On Friday 10 March, a number of Rijk Zwaan employees and construction partners got together to ceremoniously drive the first stake into the ground.