History

In 1917, two brothers from Rotterdam, Cornelis and Johannes Buise, founded their company 'Gebroeders Buise Touwhandel & Commissie'. This was the predecessor of the current Zakkencentrale Group. The growth of the Port of Rotterdam and the increased numbers of products to be packaged and shipped in the 1920s caused an increased demand in bags. That is why the two brothers decided to start selling cotton and linen bags, in addition to their established trade in twine and string. They then established a workshop for repairing torn bags. In 1932, they founded a second company, called 'Industrial Trading Company Rotterdam'. The company produced sack cleaners. Three years later, Johannes Buise took charge of this second company on his own, and then founded the NV Zakkencentrale. At the time, this company (the current Zakkencentrale) only manufactured and repaired sacks.

Ahmed Aboutaleb, the mayor of Rotterdam

Over 100 years old

The Zakkencentrale is still a family business, currently run by the third generation of the Buise family. As mayor Aboutaleb stated at the event of our anniversary, the port city of Rotterdam is proud to be home to a company like the Zakkencentrale. "Throughout the years, the city has been through a lot, and yet, Zakkencentrale made it through economic crises and the war unscathed," the mayor wrote.

"Zakkencentrale has that characteristic Rotterdam entrepreneurial spirit, innovative capacity, flexibility, efficiency, and highly skilled staff. That is how Zakkencentrale became what is is today: a reliable, globally operating leader in the packaging industry," said mayor Aboutaleb.

1953

While we do supply standardised products, our proven specialty for many decades now has been personalised recommendations and custom work. For example, we were involved in the very foundations of the Delta Works. During the North Sea flood in 1953, we supplied thousands of sandbags to help combat the rising tide.

Delta works

Right after the flood, we started collaborating with TNO to develop a new product using polypropylene. This resulted in our Aquatex filter mats. They are incredibly strong, hard-wearing and durable. Moreover, they can be immersed by machines. These Aquatex mats were then used to form the foundations for the Delta Works.

Polypropylene

Traditionally, the Zakkencentrale supplied jute bags, but due to the polypropylene Aquatex mats used in the Delta Works, a quick transition to polypropylene was made. During this time, polypropylene was not yet commonly used for bags. The Zakkencentrale was the first in Europe to introduce bags made of polypropylene instead of jute bags.