The owner, Hans Ammerlaan, began to cultivate and search for succulents as a hobby in 1974. He was 7 years old and a nearby nursery gave him some Crassula Ovata cuttings. This is how his passion to grow and cultivate succulents began.
Because his father, whose name was also Hans, owned a flower nursery, he was able to expand his hobby in his greenhouse. After he graduated from Secondary Horticultural School, he made his hobby into his work. On 1 July, 1987, the one-man business, "Plantenkwekerij Hans Ammerlaan" was started with a surface area of 4,000 square meters. For the first few years only Crassulas were grown, but that was soon expanded with several succulent families, such as Aloe, Agave, Haworthia, Pachyphytum, Kalanchoe and Echeveria.
In 1998, the name 'Plantenkwekerij Hans Ammerlaan' was changed and the company was named after the first cutting it all started with: 'OVATA'.
By now, OVATA has grown into a company with 25 permanent employees and 76,000 square meters of greenhouses. We have been at our current location since 1999. Here, the company went through an enormous metamorphosis. The old greenhouses were demolished in 2005, to make room for an ultra-modern automated greenhouse complex. The front and the new office building were designed by the architect Hans Kalkhoven. This design has paid off, because OVATA was the winner of: BNA building of the year 2008, in the Delta Region (read more about this under News).
OVATA continues to be developed with new automation and mechanization to further optimize the company. We also always keep searching for new varieties and cultivation methods to improve our assortment, because:
'We always want to do better'.
Because his father, whose name was also Hans, owned a flower nursery, he was able to expand his hobby in his greenhouse. After he graduated from Secondary Horticultural School, he made his hobby into his work. On 1 July, 1987, the one-man business, "Plantenkwekerij Hans Ammerlaan" was started with a surface area of 4,000 square meters. For the first few years only Crassulas were grown, but that was soon expanded with several succulent families, such as Aloe, Agave, Haworthia, Pachyphytum, Kalanchoe and Echeveria.
In 1998, the name 'Plantenkwekerij Hans Ammerlaan' was changed and the company was named after the first cutting it all started with: 'OVATA'.
By now, OVATA has grown into a company with 25 permanent employees and 76,000 square meters of greenhouses. We have been at our current location since 1999. Here, the company went through an enormous metamorphosis. The old greenhouses were demolished in 2005, to make room for an ultra-modern automated greenhouse complex. The front and the new office building were designed by the architect Hans Kalkhoven. This design has paid off, because OVATA was the winner of: BNA building of the year 2008, in the Delta Region (read more about this under News).
OVATA continues to be developed with new automation and mechanization to further optimize the company. We also always keep searching for new varieties and cultivation methods to improve our assortment, because:
'We always want to do better'.
Hans Ammerlaan - 1982