Discover
The Schippers
Group
history
It all started with the slogan ‘Passion for farming’, the Schippers family made it clear where the company stood. Passion for Farming included the commitment to the agricultural enterprise and all that it comprises to be acquired and maintained in the best manner possible for both humans and animals. That has always been the starting point of the founder of MS Schippers, Martien Schippers. The company was born out of passion for the farmers.
Becoming a farmer
Martien Schippers comes from a large farming family from Oerle, Noord-Brabant (Netherlands) and is the sixth of nine children within this family. He completed the Mulo diploma as well as the Agricultural Winter School and always wanted to become a farmer, together with his Maria. Maria also comes from a large family, as many as twelve children walked around on their farm. All these children had to earn extra money, so before and after school time, everyone helped on the family farm. As was customary, only one child could take over the farm, and that was usually the oldest child. Martien being the sixth child, went looking for something else.
I
Cigar shop
When Martien was 21 years old, he got his first job at an artificial insemination ​​station in Hilvarenbeek (Noord-Brabant). Martien was responsible for the administration concerning the sire offspring. After working here for about two years, the AI ​​station merged with two other AI stations, for which his services were no longer needed. The manager of the AI ​​station in Hilvarenbeek also had a little cigar shop in Bladel, which he proposed to sell to Martien. He was interested and took over store, together with Maria. This is the starting point of the current MS Schippers.
II
Visiting the farmer
Shortly after purchasing the cigar shop in 1966, Maria and Martien got married. Maria worked in the shop, and Martien visited farmers to sell cigars. In 1968, their sons Harrie and Guus were born and a year later their third son Mark. At that time, grocers and other merchants visited livestock farmers quite often. Most farmers only went on Sunday to the village to attend church; otherwise, they would mostly stay within their business premises. Martien had success with his way of doing business and sympathetic chat. He soon received several requests from farmers to deliver products, in addition to cigars. One of his first clients was a cattle farmer who, due to expansion, could no longer keep his cows apart. Martien started looking for some form of visual identification and came with a plastic plate attached to a rope so that farmers could recognize their cows. This way, he kept farmers happy by offering the first ever tags for animals in the world. Farmers started asking many questions concerning various topics that Martien could sometimes answer, but most often he couldn't, but he would persever until he found a solution.This perseverence later turned out his key to success.
III
Innovative
Martien learned a lot from the livestock farmers he visited. If someone had a good product or applied a brilliant practice, Martien shared this with his other customers. Martien was always looking for improvements and developed several new inventions from this curiosity and perseverance to innovate. For example, in the past, the tails of piglets were cut using rusty nippers with many infections as a result. Martien started looking for an alternative and came across a device used to cut and immediately cauterize ropes, used in sailing. He adjusted the blade and to this day, it works in the same way Martien introduced it at the time. The time to treat an animal came down big, but most importantly, the infection and failure rate due to tail cutting went to almost zero. This is where Martien saw the first results of improved hygiene and what this could mean for farmers and animals, and it wouldn't be his last.
IV
Not a job, hobby
Through the tenacity and innovative attitude of Martien Schippers, he was able to build a large customer base in a short time. Livestock farmers enjoyed his visits because his arrival often meant the introduction of something new, something better. Martien saw it as his task to help the farmer to become an entrepreneur.
Martien often joked with his customers that improvements could make them both rich. This joke has served many farmers very well. It was not a job, but a hobby; it was a pleasure for Martien to see the farmer grow their business and staying happy. Sometimes, customers even came to visit Martien and Maria on Sunday afternoons, just to catch up and chit-chat.
Martien often joked with his customers that improvements could make them both rich. This joke has served many farmers very well. It was not a job, but a hobby; it was a pleasure for Martien to see the farmer grow their business and staying happy. Sometimes, customers even came to visit Martien and Maria on Sunday afternoons, just to catch up and chit-chat.
V
First across border expansion
After about four years Martiens' services expanded to Belgium because of the proximity and Belgium farmers traveling to his shop in the weekend. Where there was demand, Martien would offer.
VI
The sons take over
The company grew steadily and received the support of the three sons, who later on became sales reps with their assigned regions. Everything was running smoothly until Martien had a stroke at age 50. The prospect for full recovery was little to none. Perhaps he would never fully recover and had to go through life with a disability. The question was ariewhether the company should continue to operate. Harrie, Guus, and Mark quickly indicated that they wanted to continue the business. Since father was unable to work, the three sons took over the company with approximately ten employees who were then employed. Miraculously, Martien experienced a complete recovery after about three months.
VII
Overseas
Martien decided to travel together with his Maria. No family beach holidays, they went to all agricultural fairs they could find and explored the world! This allowed them to become acquainted with distributors and agents to further expand globally. The journey started by car and they went to Paris, Barcelona, Stoneley, Hanover, Poznan and many other places in Europe. After one year, they also visited many places outside Europe. From Johannesburg to Beijing and from Manila to Toronto and Bangkok. Through the global visits to fairs, Martien and Maria found out many new products, and they met many new people.
Nowadays, The Schippers Group is one of the major suppliers for the professional livestock industry. A family owned company with more than a dozen sales offices across the globe and active worldwide in 50+ countries with a total 450+ employees. Martien never dreamed of this when he started in 1966.
Nowadays, The Schippers Group is one of the major suppliers for the professional livestock industry. A family owned company with more than a dozen sales offices across the globe and active worldwide in 50+ countries with a total 450+ employees. Martien never dreamed of this when he started in 1966.
VIII
Becoming a farmer
Martien Schippers comes from a large farming family from Oerle, Noord-Brabant (Netherlands) and is the sixth of nine children within this family. He completed the Mulo diploma as well as the Agricultural Winter School and always wanted to become a farmer, together with his Maria. Maria also comes from a large family, as many as twelve children walked around on their farm. All these children had to earn extra money, so before and after school time, everyone helped on the family farm. As was customary, only one child could take over the farm, and that was usually the oldest child. Martien being the sixth child, went looking for something else.
Cigar shop
When Martien was 21 years old, he got his first job at an artificial insemination ​​station in Hilvarenbeek (Noord-Brabant). Martien was responsible for the administration concerning the sire offspring. After working here for about two years, the AI ​​station merged with two other AI stations, for which his services were no longer needed. The manager of the AI ​​station in Hilvarenbeek also had a little cigar shop in Bladel, which he proposed to sell to Martien. He was interested and took over store, together with Maria. This is the starting point of the current MS Schippers.
Visiting the farmer
Shortly after purchasing the cigar shop in 1966, Maria and Martien got married. Maria worked in the shop, and Martien visited farmers to sell cigars. In 1968, their sons Harrie and Guus were born and a year later their third son Mark. At that time, grocers and other merchants visited livestock farmers quite often. Most farmers only went on Sunday to the village to attend church; otherwise, they would mostly stay within their business premises. Martien had success with his way of doing business and sympathetic chat. He soon received several requests from farmers to deliver products, in addition to cigars. One of his first clients was a cattle farmer who, due to expansion, could no longer keep his cows apart. Martien started looking for some form of visual identification and came with a plastic plate attached to a rope so that farmers could recognize their cows. This way, he kept farmers happy by offering the first ever tags for animals in the world. Farmers started asking many questions concerning various topics that Martien could sometimes answer, but most often he couldn't, but he would persever until he found a solution.This perseverence later turned out his key to success.
Innovative
Martien learned a lot from the livestock farmers he visited. If someone had a good product or applied a brilliant practice, Martien shared this with his other customers. Martien was always looking for improvements and developed several new inventions from this curiosity and perseverance to innovate. For example, in the past, the tails of piglets were cut using rusty nippers with many infections as a result. Martien started looking for an alternative and came across a device used to cut and immediately cauterize ropes, used in sailing. He adjusted the blade and to this day, it works in the same way Martien introduced it at the time. The time to treat an animal came down big, but most importantly, the infection and failure rate due to tail cutting went to almost zero. This is where Martien saw the first results of improved hygiene and what this could mean for farmers and animals, and it wouldn't be his last.
Not a job, hobby
Through the tenacity and innovative attitude of Martien Schippers, he was able to build a large customer base in a short time. Livestock farmers enjoyed his visits because his arrival often meant the introduction of something new, something better. Martien saw it as his task to help the farmer to become an entrepreneur.
Martien often joked with his customers that improvements could make them both rich. This joke has served many farmers very well. It was not a job, but a hobby; it was a pleasure for Martien to see the farmer grow their business and staying happy. Sometimes, customers even came to visit Martien and Maria on Sunday afternoons, just to catch up and chit-chat.
Martien often joked with his customers that improvements could make them both rich. This joke has served many farmers very well. It was not a job, but a hobby; it was a pleasure for Martien to see the farmer grow their business and staying happy. Sometimes, customers even came to visit Martien and Maria on Sunday afternoons, just to catch up and chit-chat.
First across border expansion
After about four years Martiens' services expanded to Belgium because of the proximity and Belgium farmers traveling to his shop in the weekend. Where there was demand, Martien would offer.
The sons take over
The company grew steadily and received the support of the three sons, who later on became sales reps with their assigned regions. Everything was running smoothly until Martien had a stroke at age 50. The prospect for full recovery was little to none. Perhaps he would never fully recover and had to go through life with a disability. The question was ariewhether the company should continue to operate. Harrie, Guus, and Mark quickly indicated that they wanted to continue the business. Since father was unable to work, the three sons took over the company with approximately ten employees who were then employed. Miraculously, Martien experienced a complete recovery after about three months.
Overseas
Martien decided to travel together with his Maria. No family beach holidays, they went to all agricultural fairs they could find and explored the world! This allowed them to become acquainted with distributors and agents to further expand globally. The journey started by car and they went to Paris, Barcelona, Stoneley, Hanover, Poznan and many other places in Europe. After one year, they also visited many places outside Europe. From Johannesburg to Beijing and from Manila to Toronto and Bangkok. Through the global visits to fairs, Martien and Maria found out many new products, and they met many new people.
Nowadays, The Schippers Group is one of the major suppliers for the professional livestock industry. A family owned company with more than a dozen sales offices across the globe and active worldwide in 50+ countries with a total 450+ employees. Martien never dreamed of this when he started in 1966.
Nowadays, The Schippers Group is one of the major suppliers for the professional livestock industry. A family owned company with more than a dozen sales offices across the globe and active worldwide in 50+ countries with a total 450+ employees. Martien never dreamed of this when he started in 1966.