Netherlands
The Netherlands holds Europe's single most strategic industrial asset: ASML, the only company on earth building the EUV lithography machines that advanced chips require. Rotterdam runs Europe's largest port, and Dutch greenhouses make the country one of the world's biggest food exporters despite its size.
Adyen processes payments for the internet's biggest names, Booking.com beat Silicon Valley at its own game, Philips leads in health technology, and NXP ships the chips in your car.
Below: the Dutch brands worth choosing over US or Chinese defaults.
Getting Around
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.
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.
Urban Arrow
Built in: Amsterdam, Netherlands
The definitive electric front-loader (bakfiets).
Motor: Bosch Cargo Line
Body: lightweight EPP foam, low centre of gravity.
The family SUV of cargo bikes.
Cervélo
Known for: Originally Canadian, now under Dutch ownership via Pon Holdings, and structurally one of the most respected aero and engineering brands in road cycling. The first brand to win the Tour, Giro and Vuelta in the same season (2009). Pon's stewardship has been quietly competent, with Cervélo's R&D culture preserved.
Used by: Visma-Lease a Bike historically; multiple Tour and Olympic champions over the past 25 years
Vredestein
Known for: Premium and ultra-premium passenger tyres with a strong design heritage, including a long-standing collaboration with Giugiaro for distinctive sidewall styling. The Quatrac all-season range is widely regarded as a category benchmark. The Ultrac sport line is a credible alternative to segment leaders from Michelin and Continental.
Food & Drink Icons
Heineken
Known for: The world's most internationally distributed European lager. The green bottle. The red star. 70+ countries.
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 bars.
Employees: Around 400 worldwide.
Farming & Ethics: Industry leader, with fully traceable, direct-trade cocoa. Mission-built to end modern slavery. B Corp certified.
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.
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
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
Retail, Supermarkets & Everyday Giants
Ahold Delhaize
Known for: Albert Heijn, Delhaize, Albert, Maxi, Mega Image and 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 and Interspar — a franchise model
Employees: ~300,000
Available in: Most EU countries, including Austria, Italy (Despar), Norway and Poland
Controversies: Continued brand presence in Russia via an independent licensee
Unilever
Known for: Dove, Axe, Sunsilk, Pond’s
Employees: ~128,000
Manufactured in: 90+ countries
Sustainability: Net-zero by 2039, renewable energy targets
Dutch Software & Cloud
Krita
Pricing: Free (donation supported)
Known for: Desktop raster editor for digital painting; Linux compatible; praised for brushes and stability.
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
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
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
Office.eu
Known for: A 100 percent European all-in-one workspace built on Nextcloud, bundling mail, calendar, documents, and cloud storage under EU jurisdiction. Launched from The Hague and now shipping on the shared Euro-Office core. The flagship like-for-like answer to Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
Pricing: Early access by invitation. Public pricing not yet published.
GOOSE VPN
Ownership: Privately held
Pricing: €9.99/month, or €4.99/month on the yearly plan, with a lifetime plan available.
Known for: Dutch VPN with a no-logging policy, 100+ servers worldwide, P2P and streaming-optimised servers, and unlimited devices on a single account.
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
Fintech & Payments
Bunq
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.
iDEAL
Known for: Dutch online bank-to-account payment standard, launched 2005, operated by Currence (Dutch bank consortium). Covers ~70% of all Dutch online payments. Being upgraded to iDEAL 2 in 2025 with mobile wallet capabilities. An EPI partner — its bank-direct model is the likely basis for Wero’s e-commerce flow.
Available in: Netherlands (dominant); iDEAL 2 expanding cross-border via EPI
https://www.ideal.nl
Travel Helpers
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
Center Parcs
Known for: Nature-focused holiday parks for families. With indoor water parks, adventure playgrounds, and scenic forests, Center Parcs is an amazing getaway for families seeking a mix of relaxation and outdoor fun.
Interrail
Known for: 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.
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.
Cleaning Up the World
The Ocean Cleanup
Focus: Plastic-removal technology for oceans and rivers
Known for: Removing over 20 million kg of plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Bellingcat
Focus: Open-source investigations into conflict, war crimes, corruption, election integrity
Known for: Pioneering the modern open-source-intelligence (OSINT) methodology.
