De Lelystadse Boer

What De Lelystadse Boer does

Stichting De Lelystadse Boer is a Dutch nonprofit foundation established in November 2016 by approximately 70 farmers (now 115 members) in a ~2.5 km radius around Lelystad Airport, Flevoland. It operates as a farmer-owned cooperative coordinating ~3,500 hectares of agricultural land and represents the Netherlands' most fertile soil, producing 10–15% above national average yields per hectare and feeding roughly 1 million people daily. The foundation emerged from Stichting CDO (Club Direct Omwonenden Lelystad Airport) as a proactive response to the planned Lelystad Airport expansion, choosing to 'omdenken' (rethink) disruption into opportunity. Governance is exercised through a five-member farmer board, while an eight-person working organization handles daily operations.

The foundation generates revenue across multiple streams: a direct-to-consumer webshop under the 'Eten van de Lelystadse Boer' regional brand (launched April 2019) with home delivery via logistics partner Delvry; B2B food supply to Lelystad Airport restaurants and local horeca; paid school farm visits (from €50/class) and corporate excursions at 10+ member farms; a self-guided 100-km car tour at €24.50 per car; cycling and hiking routes; an annual harvest day (Oogstdag) attracting 1,200–1,500+ visitors; Christmas gift packages (368 in one season); and a wholly-owned subsidiary, Lelystadse Boer Rentmeester BV, executing a 15-year Dura Vermeer contract for grass and grounds maintenance at Lelystad Airport plus snow removal for local businesses. Underlying technology is agricultural rather than digital: GPS-guided sowing, ~21 MW of installed renewable energy (7.5 MW solar + 13.5 MW wind, with ~63 MW potential), and a planned energy management system and closed distribution grid (GDS) for the energy strategy co-developed with Liander, the municipality, and the province.

The go-to-market motion is community-led and event-driven: the foundation relies on the Oogstdag, Tulpenroute, Buiten Bios outdoor cinema, a mobile Buurthuis, the #GOEDBOEREN magazine, organic Facebook, and earned media in local outlets (De Stentor, Flevopost, Omroep Flevoland). Public-sector backing is structurally important: a €12,500 municipal subsidy (2016), €129,585 from the Luchthavenfonds (2018), €99,620 from Fonds Leefbaarheid (2019), and the May 2026 Kansen voor West EU ERDF approval for an energy transition study at five pioneer farms in collaboration with Hogeschool Saxion. The energy strategy targets a self-sufficient energy region by 2050, including hydrogen production, and was showcased at the national Hydrogen Event in June 2026.

Name

De Lelystadse Boer

Legal name

Stichting De Lelystadse Boer

Website

https://delelystadseboer.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Stichting De Lelystadse Boer is a Dutch nonprofit foundation of 115 farmers coordinating ~3,500 hectares around Lelystad Airport, generating revenue through a regional food webshop, farm education visits, agritourism, Christmas packages, and airport grounds maintenance via its Rentmeester BV subsidiary.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Cooperative Services

NAICS

Farm Management Services (115116)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Supply Chain, Marketing & Contracting Advisory (Grain/Livestock Marketing) (AFACAJAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Farm-to-Table & Agritourism Dining Experiences (Farm Visits, Harvest Meals) (THAJAGAK)

Keywords

• Agricultural cooperative services
• Farm education programs
• Local food distribution
• Agritourism experiences
• Grounds maintenance services

Headquarters

HQ city

Lelystad

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Agricultural product sales (B2C): Farmers sell produce directly to consumers via the 'Eten van de Lelystadse Boer' webshop, with home delivery on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Products include potatoes, vegetables, fruit, dairy, and meat from member farms.
2. Agricultural product sales (B2B): Supply of local food products to businesses including restaurants, caterers, and healthcare institutions in Lelystad and the region.
3. Farm education visits: Schools pay for 2-hour farm visits (from €50 excl. VAT per class) to learn about food origin, agriculture, and sustainability. Business groups pay for guided farm excursions.
4. Maintenance and stewardship services (Rentmeester BV): A 15-year contract with Dura Vermeer for grass and grounds maintenance at Lelystad Airport. The Lelystadse Boer Rentmeester BV also performs maintenance for Lelystad Airport Businesspark and other ad hoc contracting work. Snow removal services for local businesses are also provided.
5. Tourism / experiences: Car tours ('Op toer langs De Lelystadse Boer') at €24.50 per car, as well as cycling and hiking routes (free), and paid events like harvest days.
6. Christmas gift packages: Sale of local product gift boxes to businesses for employee or customer gifts. In one season, 368 packages were delivered.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

De Lelystadse Boer is a foundation (stichting) of approximately 115 farmers in the Lelystad Airport area covering roughly 3,500 hectares of Flevoland agricultural land. It sells local food products directly to consumers and businesses through the "Eten van De Lelystadse Boer" webshop, offers curriculum-aligned farm visits for schools and corporate excursions, runs agritourism experiences (a self-guided car tour, cycling and hiking routes, a Maisdoolhof maize maze, and an annual Lelystadse Oogstdag harvest day), and delivers contracted grounds maintenance services at Lelystad Airport through its Rentmeester BV subsidiary.

Product overview

De Lelystadse Boer is a foundation of 115 farmers around Lelystad Airport in the Netherlands, operating in an area known as 'the vegetable garden of Europe' (approximately 7,000 football fields). The organization offers a portfolio of educational, recreational, and commercial services: farm visits for schools (Boerderijbezoek) and businesses (Bedrijfsbezoek), self-guided car tours (Op Toer), cycling and hiking routes, an annual harvest day (Oogstdag), local food e-commerce platform (Eten van De Lelystadse Boer), a mobile community house, and Christmas gift packages. Supporting services include airport grounds maintenance (Rentmeester diensten) and an ambitious energy strategy targeting self-sufficiency by 2050. The foundation also publishes the #GOEDBOEREN magazine. All offerings connect the farming community with urban residents and support sustainable agriculture in the region.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Eten van de Lelystadse Boer: A regional food brand and webshop where Lelystad residents can order fresh produce directly from local farmers. Part of Stichting De Lelystadse Boer, offering vegetables, fruits, dairy, and meat from farmers in the area.

Products and services

• Eten van De Lelystadse Boer (webshop)

Quantifiable outcome

• Feeds approximately 1 million people daily with produce from the most fertile Dutch soil (10-15% above average yield per hectare)
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• Hogeschool SaxionmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Students from Hogeschool Saxion will conduct practical research at 5 leading farms within the Kansen voor West project, studying the effects of energy solutions on the meter and what other farmers can learn from these pioneers.
• Lelystad Airport Businesspark (LAB)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025LAB collaborates with De Lelystadse Boer on the management of agricultural lands within the future business park area. The farmers continue to farm the land until construction begins. Additionally, OMALA (now LAB) announced a cooperation agreement with De Lelystadse Boer in 2017.
• DelvrymajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 March 2021Delvry (based in Dronten) handles the logistics and home delivery of food products for the Eten van de Lelystadse Boer webshop. Their drivers deliver on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. This partnership replaced the previous neighborhood pickup point system.
• Liander (netbeheerder)coreTechnology or Integration · 24 June 2019Liander (electricity grid operator) signed an intent agreement in June 2019 to collaborate on designing a future-proof energy infrastructure for the Lelystad Airport area, addressing grid congestion and enabling local renewable energy generation and distribution.
• Gemeente LelystadmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 June 2019Municipality of Lelystad signed the Intentieovereenkomst Duurzame Energie in June 2019 and provides ongoing financial support. The municipality backed the foundation with €12,500 initial subsidy (September 2016) and multi-year support. The municipality is also a partner in the energy strategy.
• Provincie FlevolandmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 June 2019Province of Flevoland signed the Intentieovereenkomst Duurzame Energie in June 2019, provides subsidies (including €99,620 from the Leefbaarheidsfonds for the mobile neighborhood house), and coordinates the regional energy strategy. The province sees the Lelystadse Boer area as key to provincial sustainability goals.
• Horizon FlevolandminorOthers · 24 June 2019Horizon Flevoland was the first to congratulate the foundation upon approval of their Kansen voor West subsidy application, indicating a supportive advisory relationship.
• Lelystad AirportcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Lelystad Airport and De Lelystadse Boer signed an intent agreement in January 2019 for local food supply to airport terminal restaurants, food boxes for passengers, and potential exploitation of a hospitality venue in the terminal. The airport also grants the farmers a 15-year maintenance contract for the grounds via Dura Vermeer. De Lelystadse Boer acts as the agricultural steward of the airport's surrounding land.
• Platform Boerderij EducatieminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019De Lelystadse Boer is a partner of Platform Boerderij Educatie and IVN natuureducatie, enabling their member farmers to receive official 'educatieboer' (education farmer) certification through a 3-day training program.
• IVN natuureducatieminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Partner organization for nature education, working alongside Platform Boerderij Educatie to certify education farmers and develop school curriculum-aligned farm visit programs.
• Dura VermeercoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 September 2017Dura Vermeer (contractor for Lelystad Airport construction) contracted De Lelystadse Boer for 15 years of grass and grounds maintenance on and around the new runway and airport. This was the first major commercial success of the foundation, signed in December 2016 and followed up with a formal contract in September 2017.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Agriturismo.it: Italy's main agritourism booking platform promoting farm stays, experiences, and direct on-farm food sales across Italian regions. Directly comparable agritourism-and-direct-food model, but in a different country.

Broad incumbents

• Boerenbond: Largest Flemish/Belgian farmers' union and service cooperative, providing advocacy, advisory, and economic services to member farmers. Much broader scope (national lobbying) but shares the cooperative-service-for-farmers DNA.
• LTO Nederland: Dutch agricultural employers' organization representing ~35,000 farmers nationwide. Comparable membership-based cooperative structure serving Dutch farmers, but at far larger scale and focused on advocacy rather than direct food marketing or agritourism.

Direct peers

• Land van Ons: Dutch cooperative that buys farmland to lease to sustainable farmers, mobilizing citizens as members. Comparable cooperative governance and sustainability-led agenda; differs in that Land van Ons owns land rather than coordinating existing farmers.
• De Streekboer: Netherlands online marketplace aggregating regional farmers for direct-to-consumer sales. Directly comparable model for digital distribution of locally-produced food and brand-building around regional identity.
• AgruniekRijnvallei: Dutch agricultural cooperative supplying crop inputs, advising on agronomy, and marketing member produce. Comparable cooperative service model for crop-producing farmers, though focused on inputs/outputs rather than agritourism.
• CSA Netherlands (Netwerk Platteland / CSA Netwerk NL): Dutch network of Community Supported Agriculture farms where consumers co-finance farm operations in exchange for produce. Comparable community-supported farmer-consumer model with educational and farm-visit components.
• Herenboeren: Dutch community-supported farm cooperative where member households collectively finance and consume produce from a single farm. Closely comparable structure: farmer-cooperative governance, direct-to-consumer food supply, sustainability focus, and education/visit programs connecting urban residents with food origins.
• FarmStay UK: UK network marketing farm accommodation, experiences, and direct farm sales to consumers. Strongly comparable in agritourism (car tours, on-farm visits) and direct-to-consumer food distribution through a coordinated network of member farms.

Others

• Stichting Natuur & Milieu: Dutch environmental NGO working on sustainability transitions in agriculture, energy, and food systems. Comparable ecosystem stakeholder and provincial/national advocacy role; thematic adjacency rather than direct competition.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/delelystadseboer
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/de-lelystadse-boer

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 De Lelystadse Boer