| Type | Naamloze vennootschap |
|---|---|
| Traded as | Euronext: WES |
| Industry | Food processing |
| Founded | 1765 |
| Founder(s) | Adriaan Wessanen, Dirk Laan |
| Headquarters | Utrecht, Netherlands |
| Key people | Piet Hein Merckens (CEO), Frans Koffrie (Chairman of the supervisory board) |
| Products | Natural, vegetarian, ethnic and organic foods |
| Revenue | €712.2 million (2010)[1] |
| Operating income | €5.3 million (2010)[1] |
| Profit | (€6.1 million) (2010)[1] |
| Total assets | €392.3 million (end 2010)[1] |
| Total equity | €183.8 million (end 2010)[1] |
| Employees | 2,220 (FTE, end 2010)[1] |
| Website | www.wessanen.com |
Royal Wessanen N.V. is a multinational food company, founded and headquartered in the Netherlands. It has operations in Europe and North America. Worldwide it had more than 2,100 employees at the end of 2009, a year in which it reported a revenue of €700 million. Royal Wessanen is listed at Euronext Amsterdam.
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'Wessanen en Laan' was founded in 1765 in Wormerveer 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 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.
Wessanen is both a producer and a distributor of natural and organic products (Health products) and quality food products (Premium Taste). In Europe Wessanen is, next to the Netherlands (Wessanen Netherlands and Natudis Netherlands), active in Belgium (Wessanen Belgium and Natudis Belgium), Germany (Allos GmbH, Tartex + Dr. Ritter GmbH and CoSa Naturprodukte GmbH), France (Distriborg Groupe), the United Kingdom (Kallo Foods) and Italy (Righi and Bio Slym).
Wessanen intends to leave the North American market, having sold its Tree of Life unit, part of the firm since 1985, to Chicago-based Kehe Food Distributors for $190 million in early 2010.[2] It concluded the €16.7 million sale of its bread products subsidiary Panos in December 2010[3] and is seeking to divest American Beverage Corporation in 2011.[4]