Our story

There were many horticultural businesses located in the Beemster. Especially in the southeast of the Beemster were a lot of growers active. Often they grew various types of vegetables in the open air or sometimes in a predecessor of a greenhouse called cloche. Due to the ever-increasing scale and specialization trend in the agricultural sector, there are not many companies left. A number of companies have managed to increase their businesses as well and do nowadays have modern greenhouses in which they can grow various crops. Bakker Seed Productions is one of those companies.

In the 70s many crops were grown in the greenhouse, such as cucumbers, tomatoes, melons, and beans. In the early 80s flowers, among which Irisis, Pinks, and Alstroemerias were grown. Gradually the realization dawned that specialization gave the best results, and the focus was shifted to the cultivation of Alstroemeria. Besides the cultivation of Alstroemeria, we also introduced the first seed crops in our greenhouse. These were lucrative crops in the summer because the flowers weren’t very profitable. The first seed crops were lettuce and tomato.

Due to an increasing demand for the seed crops, the flowers slowly but surely disappeared. The company switched to year-round production of vegetable seeds in the early 90’s. Due to this specialization, there was no room for other crops and the whole company was equipped to cultivate vegetable seeds.

Family Business

Bakker Seed Productions is a true family business. Dirk Bakker († 1997) and his brother had a mixed company with fruits, cows, and vegetables. In 1961 they decided to proceed separately and Dirk Bakker continued at the current location. In 1956, his son Ab Bakker joined the company after he completed secondary horticultural education. From 1962 the first greenhouses were built, and in 1964 they invested in a heat installation.

When Dirk Bakker celebrated his 61st birthday, he also decided to leave the company an Ab Bakker continued together with his wife. Since 1984 Dick Bakker, son of Ab, joined the business after he also finished secondary horticultural education. In the year of 2000 Ab also left. Dick now is the only owner of the company and the greenhouse’s surface increased to more than 19 000 m². Dick’s son Rick finished his studies Horticulture and Agribusiness in Delft in 2017 and is active in the company since.