Latest / Family Business Stories with Fexingo: Succession, Legacy, and Multi-Generational Companies / How the Van Voorst Family Kept a 200-Year Dutch Trading House Alive
Transcript
- Lucas: You know, we've covered a lot of dynasties on this show, but there's one family business that's been quietly operating for over two hundred years in the Netherlands, and it's not a name you hear every day. Luna: I'm guessing you're not talking about Heineken or Philips. What's the company? Lucas: It's Van Voorst & Company, a Dutch trading house founded in 1803 in Amsterdam. They started out trading coffee, spices, and textiles with the Dutch East Indies, and they've somehow survived everything from the Napoleonic wars to the rise of container shipping. Luna: Okay, 1803, that's older than most countries. How on earth do you keep a trading business relevant for that long? Lucas: That's the question, and the answer is brutal adaptability. They've shifted from colonial goods to commodities, then to logistics and supply chain management. In the 1970s, they were on the verge of collapse, but they made a bet on containerization that saved them. Luna: Containerization, that's the shipping container, right? That seems like an obvious move now, but back then it must have been a huge risk. Lucas: Huge. They had to sell off their own fleet of ships and partner with a German shipping line. The family council was split, but the CEO at the time, who was actually a non-family member, convinced them that if they didn't embrace the container, they'd be obsolete within a decade. Luna: So a non-family CEO made the tough call. That's interesting because a lot of family businesses cling to blood relatives for top roles. Lucas: Exactly, and that's a recurring theme. They've had non-family CEOs for over a century. The family owns the company, but they hire professional managers. That's one of their survival secrets. Luna: How do they keep the family involved without them fighting over the strategy? Lucas: Well, they have a family constitution that was written in the 1920s, and it's still the guiding document. It spells out that family members don't automatically get a job at the company. You have to work outside for at least five years before you can even apply, and you're evaluated like any other candidate. Luna: That's a hard rule. I imagine a lot of family members have been unhappy about that over the years. Lucas: For sure, but it's also why they've avoided the classic third-generation curse. They've had competent people in charge regardless of their last name. And the family still gets a say in big decisions through a family council that meets twice a year. Luna: So the family sets the values, but the professionals run the show. That sounds like a good balance. Lucas: It is, and they've refined it over decades. But let's talk about one specific crisis that really tested them — the nationalization of Indonesian assets in the late 1950s. They lost their entire plantation portfolio overnight. Luna: Oh wow, that's like the Bata family story we covered, losing the shoe factories in Czechoslovakia. How do you come back from that? Lucas: They had to pivot completely. They used their trading expertise to broker deals for other companies, and they moved into commodity trading in West Africa. It was a rough decade, but by the early 1970s they had rebuilt the revenue base. Luna: And then the container revolution hit, and they had to do it again. Lucas: Right. The pivot to logistics was really their second act. Now they're a mid-sized player in European supply chain management, with about two billion euros in annual revenue. Luna: Two billion euros, that's substantial for a family business you've never heard of. They must be one of the largest private companies in the Netherlands. Lucas: Definitely in the top fifty. And the family's wealth is estimated at over three billion euros. But the interesting thing is the tenth generation, they're not all working in the business. A few are, but most of them have other careers. Luna: So what keeps it together? Is it just the dividend checks? Lucas: Partly. But they have a family office that manages the wealth, and they have an annual family gathering where they talk about the business and the values. They also have a family charter that emphasizes stewardship over ownership. Luna: Stewardship over ownership, that's a nice way to put it. It's like they're caretakers for the next generation. Lucas: That's exactly the framing. And it's why they've been willing to sell off non-core assets and reinvest in new tech. They're not trying to protect their great-grandfather's job. Luna: I feel like we could talk about this for hours, but I know we have a limited time. Before we move on, is there a lesson that any family business can take from this? Lucas: Honestly, the biggest one is to separate ownership from management, and to write down the rules early. Van Voorst's constitution has been the backbone for almost a hundred years. Plus, they're not afraid to hire outsiders for top roles. Luna: And if that doesn't work, maybe just have a really good logistics division. Lucas: Ha, that's the thing. They've reinvented themselves so many times that the current business barely resembles the original. But the core identity, the trading mindset, that's the constant. Luna: So, Lucas, I know we just touched on the idea of stewardship. And that got me thinking, this show is kind of like that for us, we're keeping this conversation going for our listeners, but we rely on their support to keep it ad-free. Lucas: That's a good parallel. If these conversations have moved your work forward in some small way, or just made your commute more interesting, you can show that by buying us a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a small gesture that keeps us going, no pressure at all. And honestly, we're just grateful you're listening. Lucas: Exactly. So back to Van Voorst — one more thing that's remarkable is how they handled the 2008 financial crisis. They cut their exposure to real estate and shipping contracts early, which saved them from the worst. Luna: How did they see it coming? Lucas: Their CFO at the time, a non-family guy, noticed that the Baltic Dry Index was collapsing in late 2007. He convinced the family council to hedge their positions. That kind of flexibility is only possible when the owners aren't emotionally attached to a particular strategy. Luna: That's a great example of the constitution in action, the family had the power to say yes to an outsider's recommendation. Lucas: And they've done it again recently with AI and digital supply chain tools. They're investing heavily in predictive analytics to manage inventory flows. It's the same trading mindset, just with algorithms instead of sails. Luna: So what's the biggest threat for them now? Climate change, geopolitical tensions, or just complacency? Lucas: Probably complacency, honestly. The family has become more dispersed, and each generation has a different idea of what the business should be. But they've managed to keep that stewardship ethos alive, so I'd bet they'll adapt again. Luna: It's inspiring to see a company that's older than most nations still moving forward. I think that's a good place to leave it. Lucas: Yeah, and maybe the takeaway is that succession isn't just about who runs the company, it's about having the right structures so that change is possible. Van Voorst is proof that you can have both continuity and change.