HISTORY
In 1947, William Tesselaar started an outdoor vegetable and bulb business at the Stroet in St. Maarten. He got a large family and was looking for opportunities to expand his business. He decided to grow flowers and in 1967 the first greenhouse was built. In the first years, carnations and chrysanthemums are grown. Later on freesias was the main cultivation.
Several sons of Willem Tesselaar learned the profession of their father and after a while they went their own ways. There are great flower nurseries of the Tesselaar family located in Heerhugowaard and Luttelgeest.
Peter Tesselaar hired at a young age a part of the greenhouse from his father and started for himself as an entrepreneur. In 1983 Peter took over the entire company. The old greenhouse was demolished and a new nursery with a greenhouse of 8000 m2 was set up. In 1995 the company expanded to 2 hectares and there was a modern nursery where with great success and with a very progressive way Alstroemerias were grown. On the technical area, the company continued to innovate and there came groundcooling with sourcewater, assimilation lighting, a CHP plant and a heat storage. In 2002 Peter Tesselaar was looking for a new challenge, which was found in the cultivation of pot orchids. There was chosen for a product range that suits the place of the business and the opportunities who were there. Cambria and Oncidium showed to full advantage. In two years time, the business will switch from cut flowers to potted plants, with the growing and cultivation of pot orchids as the main stream and Guzmania as an important secondary cultivation. Nowadays the company is completly focused on the grow/propagation of pot orchids.
To ensure a good quality the propagation and selection of own plant material showed to be a major factor that now occupies a prominent position in the company. The extensive range of Cambria and Oncidium and the possibilities that selection in these crops still offers, there are many challenges to further development in this crop.
