Sustainable business in the Netherlands · 05
Finding suppliers you will not have to apologise for
How to interrogate a supplier, and where to start looking for packaging, materials and energy in and around the Netherlands.
Reference material, not advice for your specific case. Last reviewed September 2026.
Questions that separate real from marketed
- What exactly is the material, and what happens to it at end of life — home compostable, industrially compostable, recyclable in the Dutch stream, or none of those?
- Can you show a test report or certification number rather than a logo?
- Where is it manufactured, and what is the minimum order? A beautiful material with a 20,000-unit minimum is not available to you.
- What does it cost per unit at the volume you will actually order in year one?
- Who else uses it, and can you hold a sample? Anything that touches food or skin has to be judged in the hand.
Packaging is where most small brands go wrong
The common failure is a bag that looks natural and is in fact a multi-layer laminate that no Dutch facility can separate. The second is a compostable film that only breaks down in an industrial composter your customer has no access to. Ask which bin the finished object goes in, in the country where you sell it, and accept nothing vaguer than an answer to that question.
We keep the suppliers we have verified in the Frogwise directory, with our reasoning attached. Packaging makers such as Ecoworx, Biomyc and LAM'ON sit there; the directory is the right place to start, not a search engine.
Energy, space and equipment
- Choose a supplier of genuinely Dutch-generated renewable electricity rather than one relying on imported certificates; the difference is visible in their annual reporting.
- Bedrijfsruimte is scarce in Amsterdam. Shared and municipal workspaces, and cooperative kitchens, cost less and come with neighbours who will lend you a hand and a supplier contact.
- Buy used equipment first where safety allows. Refurbished machines with service history are usually the better environmental and financial decision, and they are on the same tax lists when they qualify.