IJsselstein – Kim and Peter, daughter and son of Reinier van Rijssen, are ready to take over the wheel. Bringing People, Plants and Ideas together: this slogan marked the beginning of Plantipp more than 25 years ago. Reinier van Rijssen started the company with the aim to represent breeders and support them by managing the royalties, licenses and labels of new plant varieties. Plantipp expanded rapidly and it didn’t take long for children Peter and Kim to become part of this nowadays international family business with two associated sister companies. After decades of running Plantipp and American sister company Concept Plants, the time has come for Reinier to pass the baton.
One of the first royalty management agencies in the world
“Everyone reaches the moment where it’s simply time to step back and enjoy everything you’ve accomplished. There is nothing more beautiful than for your own children to feel the same love and passion for your company as you do. It only makes sense that the proverbial baton is passed on to Peter and Kim,” Reinier explains with a smile. “You know, I once started Plantipp as a solution to a problem. I bred plants for a company. As soon as I left the company, I not only had to say goodbye to the plants but I also didn’t receive any royalty for the plants I bred. I wondered: how can you earn income from breeding as an independent breeder? There weren’t any options for independent breeders to make any money on their ‘babies’: a huge issue within the industry if you ask me. It’s so hard without any help. You have to arrange tests, issue worldwide licenses, guarantee the quality of the plants, apply for plant breeders’ rights and patents – and so on. I wanted to make sure that breeders could earn a living and focus solely on breeding, while everything else was taken care of. With that thought in mind, Plantipp was born: one of the very first royalty management agencies worldwide!”
From a one-man-show to one of the largest players worldwide
The arrival of royalty management agencies changed the sector, and in the past twenty years, Plantipp has grown into one of the larger players worldwide. “The fact that there was so much demand for real, sincere, honest and transparent help says it all, doesn’t it? Within a few years, Plantipp grew into a global business. Which was fantastic! It didn’t take long for Peter to hop on board and Kim did the same a little while after.”
Passionate madmen with a passion for plants
The Plantipp-team travels the world and is in direct contact with their partners in The Netherlands and abroad. This enables them to closely follow and control the development of a new variety. “We grew so incredibly fast! Throughout the years, we expanded our Plantipp- family with a handful of people and a number of representatives in different countries. This way we have a large reach but still remain small and personal. Everyone who is part of the Plantipp-family has similar values. They are all passionate madmen with a passion for plants and each one of them is a genuine people person and that just comes together beautifully.”
Time to sit back and enjoy
Even though Reinier hands over the management to Peter and Kim, he will continue to be involved with Plantipp. “I’ve known many of the breeders and growers we work with for decades and such a relationship has to continue to exist. Whether I’m part of Plantipp on paper or not!” Peter and Kim totally agree: “I’ve been involved in the business from an early age, but I never wanted to be one of those kids who just take over the family business just because he’s family. So I’ve worked really hard to grow in the company and learn everything there is to learn,” Peter explains. “And now Peter has become the face of the company,” Kim adds. “Where my role is more often behind the scenes, Peter is always on the road to make new contacts, meet breeders or visit important events. And with the expansion of the team, Reinier had to do less and less over the years. His focus was on legal matters, such as lawsuits about PBR. And he will continue to fight for these matters.” Other than the paperwork, we won’t notice too many changes for Plantipp.
“Plantipp is part of my life, which means that both Plantipp and especially the people involved are inextricably linked to me,” laughs Reiner. “The biggest difference is that I now just have a chat and enjoy a cup of coffee, while Peter and Kim do most of the work.”
