It’s rare that the seed sector and the music industry overlap, but Anton van Doornmalen, Rijk Zwaan’s co-owner, chairman of its supervisory board and a singer-songwriter on the side, is changing that. For van Doornmalen, music is more than a way to unwind after a day in the office — it’s his way of sharing knowledge and passion for the vegetable seed industry.
Van Doornmalen’s album “Seed Songs” describes the positive atmosphere and feeling of togetherness that he says the seed industry delivers. Songs like “We are just seedsmen” explain what it’s like to work as a seedsman, as well as talking about the goals and challenges in the industry. The song was written by van Doornmalen and is his take on the famous Paul Simon song “The Boxer”.
“With my songs, I want to capture feelings,” says van Doornmalen. “A feeling can remain in the songs forever.”
During the 2024 World Seed Congress hosted by the International Seed Federation (ISF), van Doornmalen performed his song, aptly called “ISF”. Some might remember originally hearing the song at the 1996 World Seed Congress in Amsterdam.
“For me, it was very special to perform at the ISF in front of so many longtime companions, competitors and friends,” he says.
Besides the new version of the song, Anton played “Passion in Seed”, originally composed for Hiroshi Sakata and the 100th anniversary of the Sakata Seed Corporation.
“This reflects the good atmosphere in the vegetable seed industry,” he says.
One of Van Doornmalen’s newest songs is “We are One”, written to celebrate Rijk Zwaan’s 100th anniversary. The song connects all of Rijk Zwaan’s subsidiaries and is accompanied by the European Pop Orchestra, a symphony orchestra specializing in pop music.
Van Doornmalen has released nine multi-lingual albums that include over 50 songs sung in Dutch, English and German. All of van Doornmalen’s music can be streamed on Spotify or found on YouTube. The “ISF” music video created for the 2024 ISF conference can be found here, and the song can be downloaded for free here. Under this link you can find additional information about van Doornmalen’s music.
All of van Doornmalen’s concerts have a charitable purpose, supporting the foundation Sibusiso, which helps mentally and physically handicapped children in Tanzania.
“With my performances, I can share these feelings to the audience — and I can do something good at the same time,” he says.
