Royal Van Zanten earns MPS certifications

Maurice van der Meer (left), production manager at Van Zanten Breeding BV and Edmund Timm, manager Commerce, Marketing & Communication, MPS.

Royal van Zanten’s Rijsenhout site achieved the MPS GAP and MPS SQ certifications in May 2024. It complements the existing MPS-A status. Meanwhile, the company’s laboratory in South Africa is now MPS-C certified, successfully completing a pilot programme under the supervision of MPS with support from Wageningen University & Research.

“A sustainable operation is very important to us. We are ambitious where crop protection reduction is concerned and quality is one of our core values. We are not only working on the best product, but are also constantly optimising and making our processes more sustainable,” says Maurice van der Meer, production manager at Van Zanten Breeding.

The desire to become more sustainable is shared with passion by Royal van Zanten’s international staff. In its ‘We care, so we act’ manifesto, a group of employees drew up the company’s sustainability vision on behalf of them all.

The new MPS-SQ status stands for ‘Socially Qualified’. This certificate demonstrates that Royal van Zanten meets international health and safety requirements.

MPS-GAP is relevant in the chain, especially with international retailers. This means that Royal van Zanten meets requirements in areas such as traceability, environment, plant protection products, and recall procedures.

Martijn Swinkels, director of Production & Logistics says, “The MPS-ABC certification for the laboratory in South Africa is something we are very proud of. Not many labs are MPS certified yet, and we are extremely proud that our colleagues in South Africa managed to achieve this status. With the MPS-C certification, we also have a better understanding of our own environmental impact in South Africa and can therefore focus even better on reducing it. In the coming years, the scheme of MPS will be further developed. In doing so, we support MPS.”

Achieving MPS certification is an important step in Royal van Zanten’s sustainability journey. Full MPS certification for all sites by 2025 is one of the major sustainability goals the company is setting itself. The sustainability targets set by the company and its annual status can be found in Royal van Zanten’s annual ESG report.