History
Tuinderij Vahl is a true family company that has grown into a large and modern greenhouse vegetable production company during the past 60 years.
The company was originally founded by Dries Vahl senior. He started the company in the Koekoekspolder area in 1950, focusing on field-grown vegetables and chicory initially. In 1959, he built his first greenhouse, thereby eliminating the effects of the weather on production. A number of subsequent expansion phases resulted in continuous growth of the production facility, with a surface area of one hectare being attained in the mid-1960s.
Vahl brothers partnership
In 1970, Tonnie, one of the founder’s sons, joined the company and the Vahl partnership came into being. His brother, André, followed his example in 1980. The company’s founder, Dries Vahl, stepped down as one of the company’s owners at that time. The soil type in the Koekoekspolder area was not suitable for modern mechanisation. Consequently, the brothers discontinued field farming in 1986 and introduced substrate cultivation in the greenhouses. They mainly grew cucumbers in the greenhouses, but switched to tomatoes in the autumn.
In 2000, Kees and Dries Vahl followed in the footsteps of their father, uncle and grandfather. They are the 3rd generation of vegetable growers in the Vahl family. The greenhouse facility switched to gutter production, which made the work less physically stressful and labour-intensive. The company also expanded to its current size of 7 hectares of greenhouse surface area. At the age of 65, Tonnie Vahl, after nearly 40 years in the vegetable growing industry, stepped down as the company’s owner. The current owners are André, Dries and Kees Vahl.
Sustainable geothermal energy
30 March 2012. An important date in the long history of Tuinderij Vahl. After three years of preparation, the first geothermal well in the north-east area of the Netherlands opened at the Vahl brothers’ site. Water at a temperature of 70 degrees is pumped from a depth of 1800 metres up to the surface and used to heat the greenhouses. An unusual technology that makes it possible to grow cucumbers and tomatoes in a sustainable manner. In addition to quality and the environment, sustainability is a major area of focus at Tuinderij Vahl. Or as the family itself likes to say: ‘Grown with love and care for tomorrow’s future’.
