History

For more than 100 years, the best of nature

1910 - 1947 (1st GENERATION)

On March 17, 1910, Jacob Uittenbogaard started his own farm on the nursery named “Kweeklust” in Oegstgeest near Leiden in Holland. By turning some of the meadows into land for bulb and vegetable cultivation, it became a mixed farm with both livestock farming, vegetables and bulbs. In 1920, Jacob took the step to growing tulips.

Jacob had four sons and a daughter. The sons, Bram, Jan, Ruud and Jaap came to work in the company and increasingly focused on bulb growing. This was reinforced when Jan went to nearby Noordwijkerhout in 1943 to set up a bulb nursery, where he grew a varied range of tulips and daffodils. Ruud continued to work at the company in Oegstgeest and was a specialist in the cultivation of tulips. In addition to his work in the nursery, Jaap set up the business branch. In addition to the Dutch landscape gardeners, he also focused on export to England. The bulbs from Noordwijkerhout were brought to Oegstgeest to be prepared for trade.

1947 - 1976 (2ND GENERATION)

When Jan, Ruud and Jaap joined the company in 1947, the name of the company became "Jac. Uittenbogaard & Sons ”. In 1952, the (polder) land in Noordwijkerhout got improved, so that the company had excellent bulb fields and production increased. In the following years, more land got purchased and in the mid-1950s a new warehouse and greenhouse with temperature controlled stores were built in Noordwijkerhout.

The company in Oegstgeest was bought by the council for building in 1971 due to the expansion of Leiden and the company moved completely to Robijnslaan 23 in Noordwijkerhout. Ruud and Jaap also moved with their families to Noordwijkerhout. This was also the period that the cultivation of vegetables was completely stopped and the cultivation of hyacinths was started.

1976 – 1996 (3rd GENERATION)

In 1976, Jaap, son of Jan, and Jacob, son of Ruud, became co-shareholders and the company became a private limited company (B.V.). In the years that followed, the nursery and the forcing of cut flowers expanded. The trade in Holland expanded rapidly after the introduction of prepacked bulbs in consumer packaging. Because of this growth, a new greenhouse and narcissus shed were built in 1978.

Rudolph, son of Ruud, joined the company in 1981 and Frank, also son of Ruud, in 1985. When Jaap senior, son of Jacob, suddenly died in 1986, Jaap (3rd generation) continued his trading activities and expanded it further, including the cut flower forcing trade to England. His work in the nursery came under pressure and was then completely taken over by Rudolph.

The shares from the original estate of Jaap senior got transferred to Jaap, Jacob, Rudolph and Frank in 1988, so that Rudolph and Frank also became shareholders in the company. The nursery and (export) trade expanded further in the 1980s, for which a new warehouse with cold stores was built in 1990. Surrounding plots of land were also purchased. The nursery had grown to 40 hectares and 3 million tulips were grown as cut flowers.

A further growth in trade was achieved in the nineties by attracting representatives to various countries in Europe and takeovers of both retail trade, landscaping and trade with local authorities. The premises quickly became too small, so a new combination of warehouse and greenhouse was built in 1995 which could be used for both the retail trade in summer and Autumn, and for the forcing of tulips during winter and Spring.

1996 - PRESENT (4th GENERATION)

Jaap-Jan and Robbert, sons of Jaap, joined the company in 1996 and 1997 respectively. Over the years, Jaap-Jan has focused on the presentation, sale and organisation of consumer packaging to retailers and garden centre organisations and Robbert is specialised in landscaping, parks and local authorities. They focused primarily on Europe, but trade was also set up in Canada and the United States. Jaap-Jan and Robbert became co-shareholders of the company in 2000.

The business expanded further and during that period several warehouses were rented in the bulb area to be able to handle the bulbs. Due to the building plans of the village of Noordwijkerhout, the old premises had to disappear and at the end of 2006 a start could be made with the construction of brand new premises on a nearby plot at Robijnslaan 43.

The building was ready in 2008 and offered new opportunities for further expansion of the business. In 2010 the centenary got celebrated and the company proudly received the Dutch Royal Warrant. From that moment on, the management was formed by Frank, Jaap-Jan and Robbert. Jaap and Rudolph remain active, but are not involved in the daily management of the company. In that year, hyacinth cultivation was also stopped and the nursery’s main aim became to supply the bulbs for retail, landscape and the tulips for forcing.

In 2011 an additional greenhouse was built and the forcing grew to 4 million tulips per season. In 2013, Dolph, son of Rudolph, came to work for the company, being responsible for financial affairs. The management decided to concentrate further on the Retail and Landscape trade in Europe. In 2016, Dolph became co-shareholder and joined the board. In 2017, the company won the 31st edition of the Horticultural Entrepreneur Award and acted as the Ambassador for the Dutch horticultural sector for a year.