Reinier van Rijssen’s son and daughter take the reins at Plantipp

IJSSELSTEIN, Netherlands:  Reinier van Rijssen hands over the reins of royalty management agency Plantipp to son and daughter Peter and Kim.

When he founded Plantipp 25 years ago, Reinier van Rijssen’s aim was to bring people, plants and ideas together and help ornamental plant breeders manage their royalties, licenses and plant labels.

Over the years, Plantipp has experienced strong growth. Both Reinier’s son Peter and daughter Kim joined the company which today is an international family business including two associated sister companies. After decades of running Plantipp and American sister company Concept Plants, Reinier thinks it is a good time for him to step down.

“There is nothing more beautiful than for your own children to feel the same love and passion for your company as you do,” said Reinier.

When he founded Plantipp, Reinier wanted to find a solution to the problem. He remembers, “I was a plant breeder working for a company. When I decided to leave the company, I found myself empty handed as I didn’t receive any royalties for the plants I bred. I was wondering how to earn an 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 were to 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.  That’s how Plantipp started as one of the very first royalty management agencies in the world.”

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.”

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.

Reinier is keen to stay involved with Plantipp. “I have 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 agree. Peter van Rijssen says, “I’ve been involved in the business from an early age, but I never wanted to be one of those kids who 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.”

While Peter has become the face of the company, his sister Kim will continue to work behind the scenes.