HISTORY
The Penning company was
founded in 1926 when Martien Penning sr. started growing vegetables and fruits
on a small scale at a location in Honselersdijk, called Bospolder. During the
thirties and forties, a wide range of vegetables were grown at this place.
In
1948, the first
crop of Freesia was grown. During the fifties and sixties, the company expanded
and focused increasingly on cutflower crops, mainly freesias, but also some
carnations and gerberas.
In 1965, the company began to create its own assortment of freesias by setting up a breeding programme, initially on a small scale.
Breeding activities subsequently expanded and in 1974 the first results were commercially introduced. In the same year, a trading branch of the company was founded, which was named Penning Freesia B.V. At that time the company concentrated purely on freesias: breeding, trading and growing for cutflowers.
The freesia-assortment grew annually with 3-4 new varieties being launched each year. This has resulted in a complete assortment new available in a wide variety of colours. Penning Freesia has become a supplier of freesia corms and cormlets for the home growers in Holland as well as for more and more foreign countries on different continents.
In 1987, the company started a breeding programme of Hippeastrum (Amaryllis) in cooperation with the Dutch bulb growers' association 'Floralia'.
In 1990, a new breeding complex was put into use, consisting of some 6.500 mē glass housing and different research and testing facilities. All breeding activities of the company were brought together in Penning Breeding B.V.
In 1994, the first new varieties from the breeding programme were introduced. The new Hippeastrum assortment expanded rapidly and today it consists of over 30 varieties in different types and colours.
In 2004, a new greenhouse of more than 12.000 mē, equipped with the latest technology has been put into use, enabling Penning Freesia to show their products practically year-round to their customers.
The Penning company consist of a parent company named Penning Beheer B.V. and two daughters:
- Penning Freesia B.V.
commercialisation of freesia corms and amaryllis bulbs, production and propagation of plant material.
- Penning Breeding B.V.
breeding and testing of new varieties of freesia and amaryllis, research and development, commercial flower production of freesia and amaryllis