Tuinbouwbedrijf Kouwenberg joins Compliment

Tuinbouwbedrijf Kouwenberg from Beek en Donk will join Compliment from Volkel from 2026. The grower of spring onions and celery (70 hectares) will retain its own identity, but will enter into an intensive collaboration with the fellow company from Brabant.

"At the end of last year, I took over my parents' company. My father has been at retirement age for some time, and my mother is also almost 64, so it was time for me to take over. I would like to focus on cultivation and was not keen on being burdened by numerous peripheral matters, which is why I started looking for a partner to move forward together," says Remco Kouwenberg.

"Compliment was the best choice for me. They run a well-organized, modern company and have their back office in good order. Quality is paramount to me, and this step allows me to continue pursuing my passion for years to come. Outdoor vegetable farming certainly faces challenges, but with this step, I view the future positively."

"As a compliment, we made a proposal to relieve Remco by taking care of all peripheral matters, allowing him to focus on cultivation as a quality grower," says Peer Schraven of Compliment.

"This move is in line with the trend of smaller cultivation companies joining larger growers. For many businesses, succession is a challenge. In addition, 'peripheral matters' such as certification, administration, accounting, and staff supervision are becoming increasingly complex for smaller-scale growers. The advantage of operating at a larger scale is that these tasks can be more easily integrated into existing processes, which makes it relatively straightforward to join forces."

"Compliment is located 20 kilometres from us, and our fields are nicely situated in between, so it was a good fit. We both grow celery, which allows us to offer it to our customers more widely and efficiently, and we are adding spring onions to the BV as a new crop," Remco explains. The marketing of Tuinbouwbedrijf Kouwenberg's products, like those of Compliment, will also go through ZON.