Kwekerij Helderman

What Kwekerij Helderman does

Kwekerij Helderman B.V. is a family-owned Dutch greenhouse horticulture company founded in 1967 by Johan Helderman and his father, currently operated by the second generation (Barry and Ruud Helderman). The company operates two greenhouse sites in Middenmeer, North Holland, totaling 45 hectares, exclusively cultivating red bell peppers. Annual output is approximately 70 million peppers grown from roughly 1.2 million plants on a ~49-day fruit-to-harvest cycle.

Production relies on modern greenhouse horticulture: climate-controlled environments, automated robot carts for in-house transport, biological pest control using beneficial insects, and geothermal energy supplied through Energiecollectief Wieringermeer (ECW Energy), a joint energy initiative the company co-founded in 2006 with fellow Agriport A7 growers. ECW displaces approximately 2.3 million m³ of natural gas per year. Imperfect peppers are diverted to local farmers for animal feed rather than discarded.

The entire crop is sold through Coöperatie Harvest House U.A., one of the largest Dutch producer organizations for fruit vegetables, which routes product to European retail, wholesale, and foodservice buyers via integrated entities (Rainbow International, Global Green Team, Harvest House Logistics, TNI, Food Fellows, Snijpunt). The company does not sell directly, does not disclose pricing, and has no alternative distribution channel. Labor is secured via the horticulture-focused staffing agency NoordWest3 and supported by 210 company-owned seasonal-worker apartments in Middenmeer.

Name

Kwekerij Helderman

Legal name

Kwekerij Helderman B.V.

Website

https://kwekerijhelderman.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

1967

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Kwekerij Helderman is a family-owned Dutch greenhouse grower founded in 1967 that exclusively cultivates ~70 million red bell peppers per year across 45 hectares in Middenmeer, selling its entire harvest through Coöperatie Harvest House U.A. to European retail, wholesale, and foodservice buyers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fresh Produce (Greenhouse Vegetables)

NAICS

Food Crops Grown Under Cover (11141), Other Vegetable (except Potato) and Melon Farming (111219)

SIC

Agricultural Production-Crops (100)

akta.pro primary industry

Greenhouse Vegetable Production (Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Peppers, Leafy Greens) (AFAGAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Solanaceous Vegetable Farming (Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant) (AFAGADAE)

Keywords

• Greenhouse horticulture
• Red pepper cultivation
• Sustainable agriculture
• Biological pest control
• Geothermal greenhouse heating

Headquarters

HQ city

Middenmeer

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Fresh Produce Sales: The company grows red bell peppers and sells its entire production through Coöperatie Harvest House U.A., which handles all sales, marketing, and distribution to retail, wholesale, and foodservice customers across Europe and beyond. This is a transaction-based revenue model based on volume of produce sold.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Kwekerij Helderman cultivates and produces approximately 70 million red bell peppers per year across 45 hectares of modern greenhouse facilities in Middenmeer, Netherlands. The entire output is sold through Coöperatie Harvest House U.A., which handles all sales, marketing, and distribution to European retail, wholesale, and foodservice customers. Production uses biological pest control, geothermal energy, automated internal transport, and water recycling for sustainable growing.

Product overview

Kwekerij Helderman is a single-product greenhouse operation that exclusively cultivates red bell peppers (paprika's) across 45 hectares at two locations in Middenmeer, Netherlands. Founded in 1967 as a family business, the company produces approximately 70 million peppers annually. The company's offerings consist of its core product (red bell peppers) and supplementary sustainable growing services that include geothermal energy utilization, biological pest control, and water recycling practices. Products are distributed through Harvest House cooperative to retailers throughout Europe.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Red Bell Peppers (Paprika's)

Quantifiable outcome

• 70 million red bell peppers grown per year
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ECW Energy (Energiecollectief Wieringermeer)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2006Kwekerij Helderman was a co-founder of ECW Energy in 2006 alongside fellow growers from Agriport A7 in Wieringermeer. This energy collective develops geothermal energy solutions for greenhouse heating. Through this partnership, the company saves approximately 2.3 million m³ of natural gas annually and significantly reduces CO2 emissions. ECW Energy continues to develop innovations that create new opportunities for more sustainable growing.
• Coöperatie Harvest House U.A.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorKwekerij Helderman is a member of Harvest House, an international producer organization and one of the largest producer organizations for fruit vegetables in the Netherlands. Harvest House handles the sale and distribution of all member products, providing an efficient supply chain from greenhouse to consumer. The cooperative offers a wide range of tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, with an increasing portion being organic. Members share values around innovation, sustainability, and providing access to healthy food globally.
• NoordWest3minorOthersNoordWest3 is an employment agency specifically focused on the horticulture and agricultural sector. They handle recruitment of personnel who understand the unique demands of greenhouse work, including flexibility requirements such as longer work hours during peak seasons. The agency also handles administrative tasks for the company, allowing Kwekerij Helderman to focus on core growing operations.
• Harvest House Group Entities (TNI, Rainbow International, Global Green Team, Harvest House Logistics, Food Fellows, Snijpunt)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorKwekerij Helderman's products are distributed through various Harvest House group companies: TNI (Terra Natura International) serves as the link between growers and retailers across Europe; Rainbow International is a leading one-stop-shop supplier for vegetables and fruit; Global Green Team handles worldwide fresh produce trade; Harvest House Logistics manages transport and logistics; Food Fellows develops products from crop waste streams; Snijpunt specializes in cutting fresh vegetables to custom specifications.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Nature's Pride: Dutch importer and distributor of fresh fruit and vegetables (exotics and conventional) serving European retail. Comparable as a Netherlands-headquartered fresh produce supply partner to major European retailers.
• Greenyard: Belgian-listed global fresh, frozen, and prepared fruit and vegetable supplier. Comparable as a large incumbent supplying European retail across multiple produce categories, including greenhouse vegetables sourced from Dutch and Iberian growers.
• Rainbow International: One-stop-shop Dutch fresh fruit and vegetable supplier within the Harvest House group. Comparable as the downstream distribution arm that markets Helderman's peppers across Europe under broader fruit-vegetable assortment.
• Bonduelle: French family-controlled global vegetable processor and fresh producer with significant European greenhouse exposure. Comparable on family control, fresh vegetable focus, and European retail distribution scale.
• Dole plc: Global fresh produce player formed via combination of Total Produce and Dole, with substantial European fresh fruit and vegetable operations. Comparable as a large diversified incumbent serving European retail with greenhouse and field-grown produce.
• The Greenery: Dutch fresh produce subsidiary of Coöperatie DOOR supplying European supermarket chains. Comparable as a Dutch cooperative-affiliated fresh produce distributor with overlapping greenhouse-vegetable sourcing and retail relationships.
• Special Fruit: Belgian fresh fruit and vegetable importer/distributor supplying European retail and foodservice. Comparable as a Benelux-headquartered fresh produce supply intermediary to European supermarket and foodservice accounts.

Direct peers

• Growers United: Dutch grower cooperative producing premium greenhouse tomatoes and other fruit vegetables. Comparable cooperative-driven greenhouse horticulture business serving European retail with shared focus on quality and sustainability.
• Looye Kwekers: Premium Dutch family-run greenhouse tomato producer operating multiple sites in the Netherlands. Comparable on greenhouse model, family ownership, premium positioning, and Harvest House-adjacent Dutch horticulture ecosystem.
• SweetPoint: Dutch greenhouse sweet point pepper producer and Harvest House member focused on specialty pointed peppers. Closest direct comparator to Helderman given shared crop family, cooperative affiliation, and Dutch greenhouse model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Kwekerij-Helderman-100035120805785
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kwekerij-helderman

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kwekerij Helderman