Netherlands
The Netherlands built half of Europe's modern trade infrastructure. ASML in Veldhoven makes the lithography machines without which no advanced chip can be built — the most strategically important company in Europe. Philips, ING, Booking.com, Adyen, Heineken. Plus Cyso Cloud, GOOSE VPN, Framer, Soverin. Trading nation, engineering nation, design nation.
Below: Dutch brands worth choosing over US or Chinese defaults.
Booking.com
Europe’s largest accommodation platform. Originally a Dutch startup, Booking.com now helps travelers find everything from budget stays to luxury hotels. With millions of listings, it’s perfect for families, couples, and solo adventurers alike.
https://www.booking.com
Interrail
The ultimate budget-friendly rail adventure. The Interrail Pass allows young travelers to explore 33 European countries with unlimited train travel for a fixed price. It’s one of the best ways for students to see a lot of Europe without breaking the bank.
https://www.interrail.eu
Withlocals
Withlocals connects travelers with local hosts for private, personalized tours and experiences around the world. Travelers can book unique activities, like food tours, city walks, or cultural workshops which are led by locals who share their personal stories and insider tips.
https://www.withlocals.com/
Gazelle
Known for: Dutch-style city and trekking e-bikes (comfortable everyday commuters).
Employees: Ca 550 employees.
Motors & Batteries: Equipped with Bosch mid-drive motors and corresponding Bosch batteries.
Availibility: Through bike shops and Gazelle’s own Experience Centers; also available via official website in some regions.
https://www.gazellebikes.com
Koga
Known for: High-end touring and commuter e-bikes, handcrafted with attention to detail.
Assembly Location: Assembled in the Netherlands.
Motors & Batteries: Primarily utilizes Bosch eBike Systems.
Availability: Sold through authorized dealers; no direct online sales.
Hellmann’s
Made in: Unilever facilities (Netherlands, UK, Poland, Spain).
Sales: Not widely reported, but a growing competitor to Heinz in Europe.
Key markets: UK, Netherlands, France, Germany.
Description: A clean-label alternative to Heinz, with honey or sugar instead of corn syrup.
Our verdict: 👍👍 Great taste — but no organic option, and the blue plastic packaging is a bit off-putting
Oliehoorn tomatenketchup
Made in: Netherlands.
Sales: Solid seller from Oliehoorn, a Hoorn-based family saucemaker since 1981.
Key markets: Netherlands, with some export to Belgium and Germany.
Description: Fresh, lightly seasoned ketchup with a high tomato paste content and smooth texture. Great on snacks, burgers and fries.
Vredestein
Known for: Enschede (Netherlands)-headquartered, founded 1909. Premium and ultra-premium passenger tires — known for the Quatrac all-season and the Ultrac sport lines. Acquired 2009 by Apollo Tyres (Indian, listed on BSE) — manufacturing still in the Netherlands, design and engineering still Dutch, ownership is Indian. Dutch tire engineering with Italian-design partnership (Giugiaro for sidewall design). Indian ownership is the honest caveat — but the Enschede factory and the engineering remain genuinely Dutch. Quatrac all-season is widely considered the category benchmark.
https://www.vredestein.com
Cervélo
Known for: Originally Canadian, now under Dutch ownership via Pon Holdings — and structurally one of the most-respected aero/engineering brands in road cycling. The first brand to win Tour, Giro and Vuelta in the same season (2009). Pon's stewardship has been quietly competent — Cervélo R&D culture preserved.
Used by: Visma–Lease a Bike historically; multiple Tour and Olympic champions over the past 25 years
https://www.cervelo.com
Not Just Bikes
Based in: Amsterdam, Netherlands (creator Jason Slaughter is Canadian-Dutch)
Platform: YouTube ~1.7M subscribers
Language: English
Focus: Urbanism, cycling infrastructure, why-Dutch-cities-work, comparison with American sprawl
Known for: Canadian-born Amsterdam-resident YouTuber who became the most-watched urbanism creator in any language. Not Just Bikes turned 'Dutch cycling infrastructure' from a niche planning topic into a globally-aware genre — Amsterdam as the implicit model city.
https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustBikes
Tony’s Chocolonely
Known For: A mission-driven Dutch chocolate brand dedicated to making 100% slave-free chocolate the industry norm. Notable for its bold, chunky chocolate bars.
Employees: Around 400 worldwide
Farming & Ethics: Industry leader — fully traceable, direct-trade cocoa. Mission-built to end modern slavery. B Corp certified.
Heineken
Ownership: Heineken N.V. (Netherlands), breweries in 70+ countries
Beer brands: Heineken, Amstel, Tiger, Cruzcampo, Birra Moretti, Żywiec, Desperados
Employees (Europe): ~36,000
Production: ~240M hl
Key markets: Netherlands, France, UK, Spain, Mexico, Brazil
Unilever
Known for: Dove, Axe, Sunsilk, Pond’s
Employees: ~128,000
Manufactured in: 90+ countries
Sustainability: Net-zero by 2039, renewable energy targets
Ahold Delhaize
Known for: Albert Heijn, Delhaize, Albert, Maxi, Mega Image, Alfa-Beta
Employees: ~414,000
Available in: Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Romania, Czech Republic, Serbia, Luxembourg
Controversies: Worker strikes in Belgium over store franchising
Spar
Known for: SPAR, Eurospar, Interspar — franchise model
Employees: ~300,000
Available in: Most EU countries including Austria, Italy (Despar), Norway, Poland
Controversies: Continued brand presence in Russia via independent licensee
The Bastard
Known for: Kamado charcoal grills in various sizes and editions
Employees: ~45
Manufactured in: Designed in Netherlands, manufactured in China
Users say: Extremely popular in the Netherlands - it’s the market-leading kamado brand there. Users love its combination of premium quality and relatively accessible price
Framer
Ownership: Privately held
Pricing: Free plan. Mini €5/site/month. Basic €15/site/month. Pro €25/site/month. Teams from €30/editor/month.
Known for: Amsterdam-based AI website and design builder. Visual drag-and-drop to live websites with AI-assisted layout and copy. Built-in hosting and deployment. Used by designers, marketers, and small teams who need to ship sites fast. The European Webflow. Cleaner pricing, AI features that actually save time, and EU-hosted by default.
https://www.framer.com
Airbus Defence and Space
Features: Defence and space division of Airbus Group (HQ Leiden, Netherlands; major operations across DE, FR, ES, UK). A400M transport aircraft, Eurofighter Typhoon (partner), military satellites, secure comms (Skynet 6, GovSat). Approx €13B annual defence revenue.
Price: Government and defence contracts. Eurofighter unit cost approx €100M. A400M approx €150M.
Our verdict: Europe's biggest defence prime in scale and breadth. The company building the secure satellite networks that genuinely give Europe sovereign space communications.
https://www.airbus.com/en/defence
iDEAL
Ownership: Privately held
Pricing: Free for consumers. Merchants pay €0.20-0.40 per transaction, much cheaper than card fees.
Known for: Dutch online payment standard launched 2005. Operated by Currence (Dutch bank consortium). Customer pays directly from their bank account via their online banking. Approximately 70% of all Dutch online payments. Being upgraded to iDEAL 2 in 2025 with mobile wallet capabilities. The most successful national bank-to-account payment system in Europe. Why Dutch e-commerce conversion rates are so high. EPI partner — likely the basis for Wero's e-commerce flow.
https://www.ideal.nl
Krita
Ownership: Privately held
Pricing: Free (donation supported)
Known for: Desktop raster editor for digital painting; Linux compatible. Excellent for artists; praised for brushes and stability; not ideal for photo editing
Soverin
Ownership: Privately held
Pricing: €3.25/month billed annually (€39/year). Extra mailboxes €10/year.
Known for: Mailbox with 25 GB storage, unlimited aliases, your own domain. Encrypted at rest and in transit. ISO-certified, NIS2-aligned. Domain-first email for people who refuse vendor lock-in. One flat price, no upsell tiers.
https://soverin.com
GOOSE VPN
Ownership: Privately held
Pricing: Monthly €9.99. Yearly €4.99/month. Lifetime plan available.
Known for: Dutch VPN with a no-logging policy. Unlimited devices on one account. 100+ servers worldwide. P2P and streaming-optimised servers. 24/7 email support. Unlimited devices on one account is the differentiator. Useful for households or small teams.
https://goosevpn.com
Cyso Cloud
Ownership: Privately held
Pricing: Virtual servers from €3.30/month. Managed Kubernetes itself is free — pay only for the underlying resources.
Known for: Dutch OpenStack cloud. Virtual servers in many sizes including GPU and memory-optimised. Object storage, load balancers, managed Kubernetes, DNS. Formerly known as Fuga Cloud. Among the cheapest entry-level instances in this list. Free managed Kubernetes is a real differentiator for hobbyists and startups.
https://cyso.cloud
Bunq
Ownership: Privately held
Pricing: Easy Bank €3.99/mo. Easy Money €9.99/mo. Easy Green €18.99/mo (plants trees).
Known for: Amsterdam-based, founded 2012. Self-styled "first non-bank bank". 17M+ users across the EU. Travel-focused features (instant currency conversion, sub-accounts), tree-planting on payments. The Dutch alternative. Smaller than Revolut but with a more distinct personality — the tree-planting is real, not marketing.
https://www.bunq.com
KPN
Ownership: Listed on Euronext Amsterdam
Known for: Den Haag-headquartered, founded 1989 (originally Koninklijke PTT Nederland). Dutch incumbent — mobile, fibre, enterprise, plus broadcast TV. ~70% Dutch fibre coverage. Dutch incumbent that's quietly built one of Europe's best fibre networks. KPN's network engineering is well-regarded across the European telco industry.
https://www.kpn.com
Jenever Cocktail
What's in it: Jenever (the Dutch ancestor of gin) served either neat in a tulip glass at room temperature, or in a mixed drink. Brands: Bols, Filliers, Hooghoudt.
Where it's from: The Low Countries, 1500s. Gin existed because the British copied jenever. Hand on heart.
When to drink it: Old Dutch brown bars (bruine kroegen). Especially with a beer chaser — kopstootje, 'little head-butt'.
The case: The original. Gin owes everything to it and gives nothing back. Drink it where it came from, with a beer chaser, like the Dutch intended.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenever
Bellingcat
Focus: Open-source investigations into conflict, war crimes, corruption, election integrity
Reach: Global investigations; ~25 full-time staff plus large volunteer network
Funding: Foundations (Open Society, Sigrid Rausing Trust, Adessium), workshops, individual donors
Known for: Pioneered the modern open-source-intelligence (OSINT) methodology. MH17 identification of Russian Buk launcher (2014), Skripal/Salisbury GRU operatives (2018), Navalny poisoning (2020), Bucha war-crimes documentation (2022), ongoing Russian war-crimes investigations. The method has now spread to almost every serious investigative outlet — Bellingcat is where it was developed and proven.
https://www.bellingcat.com
The Ocean Cleanup
Ownership: Dutch foundation (Stichting) founded by Boyan Slat. Rotterdam since 2013.
Focus: Plastic-removal technology for oceans and rivers
Reach: Great Pacific Garbage Patch + Interceptor deployments in rivers across Indonesia, Malaysia, Dominican Republic, US, Vietnam, Jamaica, Thailand
Funding: Private donors + corporate partnerships (Coldplay, Maersk, KIA, Airbnb)
Known for: Dutch ocean-engineering nonprofit pursuing the largest plastic-cleanup operation ever attempted. The System 03 Pacific deployment has now removed over 20 million kg of plastic from the Pacific. The Interceptor river-mouth machines stop new plastic before it reaches the ocean — addressing the source as well as the symptom.
https://theoceancleanup.com