I was born in 1944. By the time I finished
high school, in 1964, Barenbrug had already established
branches in Belgium and Luxembourg. Later, new
companies were started in Germany, France, England, the United States
of America, Poland and Romania and China. At the mean time, we
acquired new companies in New Zealand, Australia and
Argentina.
My brother Jos and I were put to work to stack
bags of seeds and work the machines for cleaning, mixing and
filling. Military services gave me a break. But no sooner did
I get out that I was sent to Northern Germany to start a local
branch. Two years before, Jos had been sent to Belgium for the
same purpose.
Contracting grass seed farmers in the
Northwest of Germany started the German division. For weeks I
went door-to-door, trying to contract farmers and obtain
acreage. "Polishing doorknobs", it was called, but it paid
off. We specialized in the production and trade of popular
seeds for lawns and sport fields. Soon, the company became a
full Barenbrug subsidiary and we got our own varieties on the
German List of Recommended Types.
