The crowning glory of our work

For 100 years now, Hordijk has been facing the future with an innovative outlook. In our anniversary year of 2022, we will also receive the crowning glory, literally. The King has granted us the right to use the designation ‘Royal’. A great honour, of which we are proud.

On Wednesday 11 May, the Queen’s Commissioner for South Holland, J. Smit, will present the designation to Rik Hennink, CEO of Hordijk Group and shareholders Ab and Groen Hordijk. Other shareholders, family members, employees and the Supervisory Board will be present, as well as the Mayor of Delft, Marja van Bijsterveldt. Rik Hennink responds: “The designation ‘Royal’ has a deep meaning: it symbolises the respect, appreciation and confidence the King has in our company. The fact that we have been awarded it is a compliment to all our current and former colleagues.

About the Predicate Royal
Only the King himself can grant the Predicate by Royal Decree. The application procedure takes about a year. To be eligible, a company must be renowned for its nature, size and reliability. The company must also occupy a prominent position, with an international reputation. The company is financially solid, its continuity is guaranteed and its operational management is beyond reproach. In short: the company is known ‘by reputation’.

100 years of history
This certainly applies to Hordijk: we are a leading supplier of products and services for the food & agri sector, both in the Netherlands and internationally. In 1922 Groeneveld Hordijk founded his carpentry company Hordijk. He specialised in wooden packaging for the horticultural sector. Nowadays, some 500 people work for the Hordijk Group in 5 separate production companies and one head office. Among other things, we make plastic packaging for (fresh) food products and develop horticultural systems of steel and aluminium.

Social developments
Rik Hennink says: “There’s a reason why our family business has been around for 100 years. We keep up with social developments and are at the forefront of the market. We have already made the switch from wooden packaging to plastic. And now we are committed to 100% circularity. We are working hard to achieve this. For example, with innovative ways to better separate PET from post-consumer material. One of our partners also collects rPET from and along the Mediterranean Sea. We use this to make our OCEAN rPET. For these initiatives, Hordijk won the Rethink Award in the recycling category in 2021.

The goal: ‘tray to tray
Hordijk sets ambitious goals. Hennink: “This has everything to do with our values: commitment and sustainability. Tray to tray is our ultimate goal. In other words: 100% recycling of our products. We make our packaging solutions optimally recyclable. Our greenhouses are made of high quality material that responds in a sustainable way to the global growth in fresh horticultural products.

Innovative look
In 1966, after 44 years of using wood, Hordijk switched to thermoformed plastic packaging. Rik Hennink: “We face the future with the same innovative look. We are open to sustainable alternatives and follow developments closely. Now that Hordijk has celebrated its 100th anniversary, we are looking ahead. We are building on the future with confidence and energy. We are also pushing forward internationally. Our greenhouses travel all over the world. Hordijk is facing the next 100 years with confidence.