Crossminds facilitates the merger of Rainbow Growers Group
Crossminds has assisted the shareholders of Kwekerij De Wieringermeer, Kwekerij Andijk, Kwekerij Het Westland, and Kwekerij PowerGrow in the merger to form Rainbow Growers Group. These four nurseries had already been working closely together, but the merger has now formalized this collaboration. As a result, a single bell pepper farm with nearly 100 hectares of growing area has been created. The management of the merged company consists of Patrick Grootscholten, Daaf Steentjes, Arco Vreugdenhil, Peter Steentjes, and Thimo van Marrewijk.
Kwekerij De Wieringermeer
Kwekerij De Wieringermeer has been cultivating bell peppers since the 2006-2007 season and has seen significant growth since then. The nursery has expanded in four phases to reach 50 hectares: 40 hectares at Kwekerij De Wieringermeer and 10 hectares at Rainbow Middenmeer. The harvested bell peppers are sorted and packed on-site at Rainbow Kleinpak Middenmeer. In total, almost 175 people are employed at Kwekerij De Wieringermeer: 120 at De Wieringermeer, 25 at Rainbow Middenmeer, and 30 at Rainbow Kleinpak Middenmeer.
Kwekerij Andijk
Kwekerij Andijk has been part of the Rainbow Growers Group since 2013, when it was still a collaboration agreement. Since then, the greenhouse company has grown to 25 hectares, with around 80 employees working there daily. At Kwekerij Andijk’s three greenhouses, block-shaped bell peppers of the Alzamora variety are grown on rockwool slabs, without the use of artificial lighting.
Kwekerij het Westland
Kwekerij Het Westland operates from locations in Poeldijk and Naaldwijk. In 2012, the shareholders of Rainbow Growers Group began cultivating pointed peppers at these sites. Today, 30 employees work across 6.5 hectares, cultivating a combination of three colors of pointed peppers. Orange and yellow are grown in Poeldijk, while red is grown in Naaldwijk. This enables Kwekerij Het Westland to meet the entire market demand for pointed peppers.
Kwekerij PowerGrow
At Kwekerij PowerGrow in De Kwakel, 40 employees work daily to cultivate pointed peppers on nearly 12 hectares. In 2022, Kwekerij Het Westland merged with Kwekerij PowerGrow to further expand the cultivation of pointed peppers within Rainbow Growers Group
Rainbow Growers Group
The merger has created opportunities for other nurseries to join Rainbow Growers Group in the future. Financial Director Arco Vreugdenhil stated, “We’ve created a platform where we have gone from 80% cooperation in the past years to now 100% cooperation, with a unified HR department and centralized energy procurement. Cultivation, technology, and labor will remain independent at each location, but we now have one central staff service and one management team overseeing it all.”
Looking towards the future, it’s essential to attract young talent. For this reason, the Rainbow Growers Group has launched the Young Rainbow program, aimed at encouraging young entrepreneurial talent within the group to further develop their skills. The idea is that after successfully completing the program, participants will have the opportunity to become shareholders in Rainbow Growers Group.
In recent years, the horticultural sector has undergone significant consolidation. Small and medium-sized nurseries are increasingly being acquired by larger players in the sector. This trend is driven by the need for economies of scale, improved efficiency, and access to new markets. Through consolidation, companies are able to invest in advanced technologies and sustainable production methods. Rainbow Growers Group aims to be one of the key players in the consolidation of the bell pepper sector. Following the merger, the Group, with nearly 100 hectares of cultivation area, is now among the top three largest bell pepper growers in the Netherlands.
Throughout the process, the shareholders were advised by Lars van Heeren and Arjen Treure from Crossminds. Tim Bentvelzen and Robert van Steekelenburg from Moore DRV also supported the merger process.
Want to know more?
For more information about this transaction or Crossminds services, please contact Lars.
