Groningen-based packaging company NNZ has been successful for almost a century in the development and distribution of packaging for the agricultural and manufacturing industries. The company’s current CEO, Len Boot, is the third generation to run the company, and the First representative of the fourth generation is currently waiting in the wings. How does NNZ manage to reinvent itself time and again – and what role does the family play in this process? ‘We don’t regard ourselves as a family business, but rather as a business that happens to be family-owned.’
Sure, Len Boot was willing to talk about NNZ as a family business, but only accompanied by his account manager Roos van Vugt, who is also his niece and the first fourthgeneration family member to be employed within the organisation. Established by Boot’s grandfather back in 1922, NNZ evolved from a glorified sewing shop which manufactured burlap sacks into a respected player in the packaging industry with a total of 22 sites across 18 countries and € 150 million in revenue.
