History

The beginning

PKF began around 1885 in the town of Poeldijk as the Poeldijkse Kisten Fabriek producing boxes for the auction. Over 30 years later, A. Jongekrijg started a clog factory in Heinenoord. Some time later, when the economy declined, these 2 companies chose to join forces hoping this would bring new customers and expand their product base. They decided to start manufacturing boxes for the construction as well as for the auctions.

Over time the business had grown and they now operated in the Dutch and Belgian market. This made it necessary to move to a new factory which was built in Heinenoord where the headquarters of PKF still is located.

The expansion years

In the seventies business wasn't as good as it once was. This was mainly due to the dependence of the auctions and the intense competition (there were at that time 39 producers of fruit and vegetable crates). Once again, PKF went looking for ways to broaden their product range. PKF decided to cooperate with PKF Monster, a company that produced pallets and boxes. This provided benifits for both companies; PKF acquired a new product, namely pallets, and PKF Monster, who sought a larger customer base for their boxes, got access to new customers. The cooperation also ment renewing the machinery so that the production capacity could increase fivefold.

This collaboration soon led to a merger, PKF Jongekrijg VOF. This merger created a lot of growth for the company. Although the company was now producing pallets and crates, the production of boxes still remained the core business for a long time.

In the late seventies PKF realized that the life cycle of wooden boxes is would not last forever. To secure a future in this market PKF started to work together with Steijn Pallets en Kisten BV and setup a factory for the production of cardboard boxes which could later replace the wooden boxes. This factory was called Holland Karton. This factory was able to quickly supply a significant proportion of the need for cardboard boxes.

In the late eighties the considerable growth in demand for cardboard boxes attracted he attention of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Papierfabriek (KNP). Although KNP did not buy boxes themselves, they were in possession of machines that produced cardboard for boxes. In 1987, KNP decided to acquire Stein Pallets en Kisten BV in order to secure the demand for cardboard as well as cut off some fo the smaller competitors. The expectation was that the market for cardboard boxes would grow from 10 million to 100 million per year.

The market grew indeed as expected and KNP began a reorganization its subsidiaries. PKF and Steijn Pallets en Kisten were merged into one organization. Three factories for boxes were closed. The new company was renamed PKF / Steijn BV and this was later shortened to PKF BV. At that time the factory in Heinenoord proved to be the most productive and also pull the rest of the company forward. This was mainly due to the large customer base at a short distance near Rotterdam and Europoort harbour as well as good knowledge of the production processes.

A few years later, PKF was sold to Post Pallets Finsterwolde. KNP no longer viewed the timber industry as one of its core activities.

From this moment, there were again a number of major changes. Previously, PKF owned its own sawmill, where they processed trees into usable raw material for the production of pallets and crates. Post Pallets decided to dismantle the sawmill and buy the raw materials directly. Also, the production of boxes, formerly a core activity became less important, which was largely due to decreasing demand for boxes by increasing competition from plastic and cardboard alternatives.

Because of the increasing market for fruit and vegetable crates PKF decided that acquire the well know producer of the products: NEPA. NEPA was widely known for the high quality products they produced for the potato, vegetable and fruit market. PKF still produces various standard boxes under the brand of NEPA.

Independently

Two years later in 2002, the general manager of PKF Heinenoord (Rob van Hoesel) succesfully completed a management buyout, which led to the current situation: PKF BV. At that time, PKF BV was the largest independent producer of pallets in the Netherlands.

By increasing competition and PKF's desire to grow led to the acquisition of Hordijk Pallet en Kisten which was located at Berkel and Roderijs in August 2007. In October that year, PKF opened a new factory in Oud-Gastel, which was planned for some time already.

At present, PKF BV has 2 production sites and is the 2nd largest pallet supplier in the Benelux.