In 1950 Jan van der Knaap laid the foundation for KP Holland. It started with the cultivation of vegetables, but soon the switch was made to pot plants. A daring step, given that the cultivation of pot plants had never happened before in the Westland. As a pioneer and entrepreneur who knew how to push boundaries, Jan has meant a lot for the development of both our family business and the Westland horticulture.

Jan's five sons joined our company in 1970. Each son was in charge of his own nursery, but the sale was done together. From the drive to be independent and to improve varieties, the breeding of Spathiphyllum, Kalanchoe, Curcuma and a number of other crops was started in the early 1990s. The fact that our company breeds, multiplies and produces turned out to be a great advantage, because all our products have been tested intensively and we know exactly how the plant behaves in practice.

In 2021, brothers Aad and Hans van der Knaap were the last of the second generation to retire from the management. From that moment on, the direction of our company is completely in the hands of the third generation. Steef van der Knaap (operational director), Roy van der Knaap (technical director) and Pim van der Knaap (commercial director), together with Leo de Vries (general director) and John Vreugdenhil (financial director), lead a team of 140 permanent employees at seven locations.