Contact
De Bolster Organic Seeds
Oude Oenerweg 13
8161 PL Epe
E-mail info@bolster.eu
Phone number 0578 621433
KvK 52943356
Skal 019678
Why De Bolster is a cooperative
At the end of 2022, De Bolster became a cooperative with more than 1,000 members. Bonds were added this past summer. Frank Vosselman, Managing Director, explains why the seed company took these steps and the wonderful results it has produced since then.
Organic must grow
Parkinson’s disease. All sorts of other terrible illnesses. Research increasingly points toward a link with the pesticides used in conventional agriculture. It is for good reason that De Bolster’s mission is: a future with 100% organic farming. But how do you, as a relatively small company in the Netherlands, make a major contribution to that?
“By growing and investing in varieties that perform even better in organic farming,” says Frank. “But it’s not that easy,” he explains. “An average breeding program can take 10 years. That means financing in advance. Try finding a bank that wants to invest in that. You can easily get financing for an extra building or land, but the investments we make still largely come from our own resources.”
“By becoming a cooperative and issuing bonds, we can grow together with our own community”
Great enthusiasm
One thing De Bolster definitely does not want in order to grow is to be bought by a large multinational. Establishing a cooperative proved to be a brilliant move. In no time, more than 1,000 companies in the sector, professional growers, but also home gardeners joined the cooperative. Two years later, De Bolster decided to add bonds to the mix. That also went like a rocket. Frank: “We announced our plan this past summer during the Open Day. Enthusiastic reactions poured in immediately. We sent out an email follow-up and all bonds were sold within a week.”
Valuable network
Frank finds it wonderful to see that their own community signed up en masse. “In this way, we are becoming less dependent on the bank. An additional advantage is that we are building a network around us that is incredibly valuable. Think, for example, of people with extensive experience in the sector who we can brainstorm with or who even supply technology to us. In turn, it’s a great way for our community to support our mission while receiving an interesting interest rate of between 5 and 6%.”
“By early 2026, we can give the sales of newly bred varieties a boost.”
Increasing seed production
De Bolster is constantly working on solving problems that organic growers encounter. For instance, there are new pumpkin varieties that can be stored longer, so the Netherlands doesn’t have to start importing from abroad early in the autumn. But also pepper rootstocks with resistance to persistent root diseases and tomato varieties that are highly resistant to the dreaded fungus phytophthora.
“Thanks to the cooperative members, we can move forward with these developments and keep up the momentum. Next year we want to significantly scale up our seed production, so that we can give the sale of new bred varieties a boost by late 2025/early 2026.”
Frank concludes: “You can keep talking for a long time about the benefits of organic farming, but the trick is to be that change yourself and show that it’s possible. That there will be no famine if we switch to organic. That for the most part, things go just fine. That it really must and can be different.”
Want to become part of De Bolster too?
At the end of 2022, De Bolster became a cooperative, and people and companies were given the chance to acquire shares. The registration was closed after just two weeks due to overwhelming interest.
Did you miss your chance last time, or would you like to expand your De Bolster portfolio? Let us know if you’re interested in a new investment round. This will help us gauge the level of interest and we can keep you informed of developments!
