Ecotone (formerly Royal Wessanen) is a French multinational food company with a focus on organic, founded in

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and headquartered in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

since November 2020. It has operations in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. Worldwide it had approx 2,000 employees at the end of 2011, a year in which it reported a revenue of €706 million. The company is owned by

PAI Partners PAI Partners is a French private equity firm based in Paris. It is one of the oldest firms in the sector, with its origins dating back to Paribas Affaires Industrielles, historically the principal investment arm of Paribas, which started opera ...

(62%) and Charles Jobson (38%), shares for the company were delisted.

History

'Wessanen en Laan' was founded in 1765 in

Wormerveer Wormerveer is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Zaanstad, and lies about 13 km (8 miles) northwest of Amsterdam. Wormerveer developed in the 15th century on the west bank of the Zaan river. ...

by Adriaan Wessanen and Dirk Laan to trade in ‘Mustard, Canary and other seeds’. The company flourished as new uses were found for all sorts of seeds. It was helped by the contemporary popularity for keeping caged birds, particularly canaries. At the beginning of the 19th century, the landscape around the

Zaan The Zaan () is a small river in the province of North Holland in the northwestern Netherlands and the name of a district through which it runs. The river was originally a side arm of the IJ bay and travels 13.5 kilometers (8½ miles) through the m ...

river was dominated by merchants’ houses, their warehouses and, most distinctively, their windmills. In the pre-industrial age, the windmills functioned as sophisticated processing plants, using wind power to crush, grind and mix all manner of ingredients. Wessanen was by the start of the 20th century a large company, and following the award of royal warrants it was now known as NV Wessanen Koninklijke Fabrieken (royal factories). With a diversified global sales market, it was able to survive war, tariff barriers and the demise of colonialism. But it was still a typically Dutch company, with production facilities on the Zaan River. In 2018, the company had annual sales of over 600 million euros. France is the largest sales market, more than half of sales are realized here. The Netherlands' share is less than 10%. It employed 1,360 people as of December 31, 2018. At year-end 2018, the market capitalization was €612 million (2017: €1307 million). Harborside, owned by American Charlie Jobson, has been the largest shareholder for years with a minority stake of 20-25%. In March 2019, French investor PAI, after coordinating with Jobson, made an offer of €11.50 per Wessanen share.

Activities

Wessanen works with organic or natural food In Europe Wessanen is, next to the Netherlands (Wessanen Benelux, Natudis, Foodprints, Kroon Biologische Verswaren), active in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

(Hagor-Bioservice),

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

(Allos Hof-Manufaktur GmbH, Allos GmbH, Allos Schwarzwald GmbH),

(Bjorg Bonneterre et Compagnie), the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

(Kallo Foods, Clipper tea) and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

(Bio Slym, Abafoods). Wessanen decided to leave the North American market. Its Tree of Life unit, part of the firm since 1985, was sold to Chicago-based Kehe Food Distributors for $190 million in early 2010. It concluded the €16.7 million sale of its bread products subsidiary Panos in December 2010, and sold American Beverage Corporation to Harvest Hill Beverage Co. in 2015.

Brands

Some of Wessanen's brands include: * Allos * Bjorg * Bonneterre * Clipper tea * Kallø * Tartex * Whole Earth (sold to KP Snacks in 2024) * Zonnatura

Board of directors

Executive board

* Christophe Barnouin,

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

* Ronald Merckx, CFO

Supervisory board

* Frank van Oers, Chairman * Rudy Kluiber * Ivonne Rietjens * Patrick Mispolet

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.wessanen.com Food and drink companies of the Netherlands Manufacturing companies based in Amsterdam Food and drink companies established in 1765 Dutch brands Certified B Corporations in the Food & Beverage Industry PAI Partners companies