Grown on Geothermal Heat: Inside the Greenhouse Behind Finn’s Fleur

Every courgette fleur that leaves our packing table starts in the same place: a greenhouse in Maasdijk, in the heart of the Westland glasshouse region. Here is what actually goes into growing and shipping the specialty flower chefs put on their menus.

Grown on geothermal heat in Maasdijk

The courgette fleurs are harvested from a greenhouse in Maasdijk that runs on geothermal energy instead of gas. That means we can pick the first flowers earlier in spring than growers who depend on gas-heated glass, and keep harvesting later into the year. This season we extended availability through to around 10 December, with the first new flowers back from the end of January — giving horeca and wholesale buyers a genuinely local, Dutch-grown alternative to imported courgette fleur for more of the year.

Grown by Jan-Willem Doelman, branded by Finn’s Fleur

Finn’s Fleur doesn’t grow the flowers itself — the courgette fleurs and mini-courgettes are grown by Jan-Willem Doelman, and Finn Verduijn, founder of Finn’s Fleur, handles the branding, packaging and sales to horeca and wholesale. The business started as a course assignment for his entrepreneurship studies and has since grown into a working commercial operation supplying customers across the Netherlands and abroad.

From flower to restaurant: how it’s packed

Each flower is sealed individually by hand and packed airtight so the delicate petals survive the trip to the kitchen. The flowers ship in a sturdy, custom-printed box designed to protect the product and extend shelf life — Finn’s Fleur had 20,000 of these boxes made earlier this year after three months of production, replacing the plain catering packaging the business used for its first two seasons. Every box that goes out now carries the Finn’s Fleur name, which means an extra check before anything ships.

Where it ends up, and what the trade press has said

Finn’s Fleur supplies Michelin-starred restaurants in the Netherlands and abroad, alongside horeca and wholesale buyers closer to home. The growth of the business — from a student side-project to a branded product on fine-dining menus — has been covered by Dutch and international trade press, including AGF.nl, Hortidaily and FreshPlaza France, and Finn won the audience encouragement award at the first Frontrunners Table pitch event for young entrepreneurs.