Royal packaging company Paardekooper, active in sustainable packaging and global supply, has been declared bankrupt. Despite growth and innovation in circular packaging, financial mismanagement, rising costs, and market pressure led to its collapse. With branches across the Netherlands and clients in over 75 countries, this bankruptcy raises questions about economic uncertainty and the future of the packaging industry.
As we all know, the economy is always under pressure from something, just think of the things that make us as consumers hesitate to spend money. Is it the war in Gaza, or Vladimir Putin that still keeps us awake as well? Yesterday it was in the news again that a group of Dutch soldiers is being sent by NATO with patriots to Poland, this to enlarge the security zone of Europe in case the Russians want to enter Europe. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, has also been keeping us in suspense for months with his threatening attitude towards the people of Gaza, "and last but not least", Putin continues to mess around in Ukraine. Add to that the "Covid trauma" that we all carry with us. All this makes many people hesitate to spend money, but where do you keep it? Is our money safe in a bank?
Global Economic Uncertainty: What’s Stopping Consumers from Spending?
Is Paardekooper, the Royal packaging company with branches in Rotterdam, Breda and The Hague, among others, the next victim in line after the Dutch shoe company Van Lier also went bankrupt the day before yesterday? Paardekooper has been declared bankrupt by the court in Rotterdam. The supplier of packaging for gifts, flowers, fruit and vegetables, among other things, already applied for a deferral of payment earlier this week because the company could no longer meet its payment obligations. The Royal Paardekooper Group (KPG), the shareholders and the management of the company have been working in recent months on solutions to get the company financially healthy again. The company announced this last Tuesday. "KPG was very far along with a possible solution, but in the end, it turned out not to be feasible."
Paardekooper Bankruptcy: Is the Royal Packaging Giant the Next Casualty?
Paardekooper's web shops have been offline for a few days now. After applying for a deferral of payment, the company was actually declared bankrupt. Paardekooper supplied packaging to companies in various sectors and is active in more than 75 countries worldwide. Among others, the Dutch Intraturn, de Bijenkorf, State of Art, Omada and De Koekfabriek were customers of the company. The company also supplied sustainable glasses and snack trays for festivals, reusable nylon fresh bags for supermarkets and various shipping packaging.
Early Warning Signs: Could Paardekooper’s Clients Have Predicted the Collapse?
The family business was founded in 1919. After a hundred years, in 2019, the company was allowed to call itself 'royal'. The originally Dutch company employs about seven hundred people. Paardekooper had branches in Rotterdam, Breda, The Hague, Barendrecht and Nieuwegein, among others. According to a sustainability report (?) by the company, sales in 2023 amounted to almost 408 million euros.A spokesperson for the trustees who have been appointed to settle the bankruptcy says that the total supply of packaging is currently also "temporarily" at a standstill. Nothing is yet known about the consequences for staff or a possible restart.
A Century-Old Legacy: How Paardekooper Became a Royal Family Business
The fact that a large company in the packaging industry could go bankrupt is quite remarkable. It is precisely this type of trade that has experienced enormous growth worldwide in recent years. The company profiled itself as a sustainable innovator in its industry. Paardekooper developed its own LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) centre to measure the environmental impact of its products itself. It helped its customers to make their packaging choices more sustainable. This focus on circular and reusable packaging materials earned the company a reputation as a forerunner in its industry.
Surprising Industry Downturn: Why Did a Packaging Leader Fail in a Booming Market?
- The strong growth through acquisitions in recent years? A lot of borrowed money was used for this. The interest rates that had to be paid for these loans were not fixed. The company sold a lot of its real estate in the end and rented many buildings for this.
- Integrating it into the acquired companies' own business processes also caused many problems. "Internal sources" report to various news media that, in their opinion, the management has not managed the company in the right way in recent years. According to them, many mistakes were made in purchasing and inventory management, and the merging of IT networks caused problems.
- Of course, the company was also in a market in which there was great competition, which could have played a role in the bankruptcy.
- And finally, of course, we can also mention further market conditions, such as the rising costs of energy and/or raw materials.
With the disappearance of Paardekooper, another traditional Dutch company will disappear from the market, or will we also see this company again in the future?
