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

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and headquartered in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

since November 2020. It has operations in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. 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, France. It is one of the oldest firms in the sector, with its origins dating back to Paribas Affaires Industrielles, the historical principal investment activity of Paribas, which sta ...

(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 northwest of Amsterdam. Wormerveer developed in the 15th century on the west bank of the Zaan river. It started t ...

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 A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...

. 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.

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, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

(Hagor-Bioservice),

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

(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 Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

(Kallo Foods,

Clipper tea Clipper is a British Fairtrade tea company based in Beaminster, Dorset founded in 1984. In 1994, it was one of the first companies in the UK to receive the Fairtrade Mark. Clipper was purchased in 2012 by Royal Wessanen for around £50 millio ...

) and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

(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 *

Kallø Kallø is a brand name used by Kallo Foods Limited, a British company that specialises in organic and natural foodstuffs. The firm has belonged since 2001 to Ecotone (called Royal Wessanen until November 2020), a company headquartered in France wi ...

* Tartex * Whole Earth * Zonnatura

Board of directors

Executive board

* Christophe Barnouin,

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

* Ronald Merckx,

CFO The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financi ...

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