Home Assortment Export Cultivation About us Contact About us You are here: Home About us History History Our company was founded by Jan de Wit in 1922, and was located in Bovenkarspel at the time. In the beginning, the company only grew vegetables and potatoes, but in 1925 they started growing tulips as well. The tulip business became a success and flower bulbs quickly became the sole focus of the company. At first, our flower bulbs were only sold in the Netherlands, but in 1951 the first bulbs were exported to Germany and Sweden. This was the beginning of the export, which is now the biggest activity of our company. The company grew larger and more help was needed to manage everything. That is why all seven sons of Jan de Wit joined the company in 1952. The company continued to grow and the location in Bovenkarspel became too small. In 1957, the company moved to Enkhuizen, where we are still located. This location was big enough to build sufficient facilities to meet the growing demand for our flower bulbs. Our bulbs also became popular outside of Europe. In 1962, our bulbs were exported to Japan for the first time, and we still supply our bulbs to this particular customer. Our flower bulb assortment was expanded with lily bulbs in 1983. This cultivation developed quickly after the introduction of Orientals such as Casablanca and Le Reve, and there was a growing demand for lilies from Japanese customers. The export of lily bulbs turned out to be a good move, because they are now one of our biggest export products. Japan was not the only country outside of Europe that had a demand for our bulbs. China and Taiwan followed in the 1980s. Later, Russia, the United States, Canada, and Mexico could also be added to the list, and nowadays we export our bulbs to more than twenty countries. It is our goal to obtain and maintain a substantial market share with widespread sales in the countries in which we operate, in order to become an important market party. In 1995, the company was transferred to the third De Wit generation. Nine grandsons of our founder are currently working at the company, and they are involved in different activities. 2012 Celebration of our 90th anniversary 2012 Introduction of our new company style 2011 Introduction of mobile website 2011 Known Consignor Airfreight 2010 AEO certification 2008 We become a member of tulip breeding association Tuliko 2008 Participant in the Keukenhof exhibition for the first time 2007 Royal decoration from the Dutch Queen awarded to Mr S.G. de Wit, who was a member of the board of directors of Jan de Wit en Zonen B.V. for more than 25 years 2007 Introduction of barcode scanning system for tracking and tracing products in our warehouse 2006 Our Mr Harm Groot is awarded the Colourful Yunnan Friendship Award 2006 by the Chinese province Yunnan 2006 Start of export to Russia 2005 Opening of the test greenhouse especially for lilies 2005 Introduction of Microsoft Dynamics Navision ERP system 2004 Introduction of the website www.jandewitenzonen.com 2003 Obtainment of MPS-A certificate 2002 Name giving ceremony of the tulip Monica, named after Sister Monica de Wit of the Sister Augustinessen of the City of God, daughter of our founder Jan de Wit 2001 New office and warehouse/storage facilities 1997 Celebration of our 75th anniversary 1997 Winner of the China Traders Award for the successful introduction of tulips, handed out by the Vice Minister of Economy 1996 Name giving ceremony for tulip 'Hermitage' at the famous Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg in Russia 1995 Company passed on to the third generation 1994 First time harvesting tulip and iris bulbs in net machine on the clay soil 1993 Participant in the Third China National Flower Fair 1992 Winner of the Silver tulip at the Westfriese Flora flower exhibition for the first time 1990 Start of export to Norway 1989 New warehouse and cooling facilities 1989 Start of export to Taiwan 1988 Introduction of new computer system ABM Microlegger 1984 First tulip bulbs shipped to China 1983 Participation in the 50th Westfriese Flora flower exhibition 1983 Start of the lily business 1979 Winner of the Silver Boat at the Westfriese Flora Flower exhibition for the first time 1979 Passing away of our founder Jan de Wit 1974 Start of export to Finland 1972 Winning the gold medal at the Floriade exhibition, handed out by Queen Juliana 1965 Establishment of the production company in Anna Paulowna 1964 Introduction of iris Blue Magic 1962 Start of export to Japan 1957 The company moves from Bovenkarspel to Enkhuizen 1952 All seven sons join the company 1951 Start of export to Germany and Sweden 1943 Introduction of tulip Prominence 1933 Establishment of / first participation in the 'Westfriese Flora' flower exhibition 1925 First tulips and irises are grown 1922 Start of the company as vegetable and potato grower More information History Pictures Videos Virtual tours Exhibitions Certified Contact us Westeinde 176 1601 BN Enkhuizen Postbus 98 1610 AB Bovenkarspel +31 (0)228 312571 +31 (0)228 313764 info@jandewitenzonen.com Customer portal Click here to open our customer portal © Copyright 2008-2021 by Jan de Wit en Zonen B.V. 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