Herman BarentzOUR HERITAGE

A powerful blend of knowledge, entrepreneurship and partnership.

Our story begins in Amsterdam with a real entrepreneur: Herman Barentz. The values and the heritage of our founder still inspire us every day.

We build knowledge

“The only thing that no-one can take away from you, is your knowledge.”

Herman Barentz.

Our founder, Herman Barentz had to hide to survive World War II. While he was in-hiding, he spent all of his time reading and studying. This formed his strong belief in the invincible power of knowledge.
When he started his own company in Amsterdam in 1953, knowledge became the fundament for growth and today it still is. That is why we are renowned for our technical and market expertise. 

Entrepreneurship as driver

Herman Barentz started his company with nothing more than an idea, as every entrepreneur: Roquette started to produce a new range of products and Herman Barentz saw a business opportunity. He convinced them he was the right person to represent the brand in the Netherlands. This turned out to be a huge success, and supplier after supplier joined. In the years after Barentz grew from 1 to over 60 countries worldwide.

Key milestones:

1953 – 1988 Sustainable growth in the Netherlands
1988 – 2012 Step-by-step roll-out to almost all European countries
2012 – 2015 Opening the doors in Asia-Pacific region and China
2015 – 2019 Expansion to Middle East, South Africa, and Latin America
2020 – Expansion to North America (USA and Canada)
2022 - Expansion to Mexico and Central America

 

Long-lasting partnerships

Every entrepreneur remembers the moment of the first deal. To make that deal, you have to make promises. To get a second deal, you have to keep your promises. For Herman Barentz, trust was key, because he knew this is the only way to build strong and lasting partnerships. This is still our attitude towards doing business today. Perhaps the best example we can give is that we are still cooperating with our very first partner. For almost 70 years.

 

Creating Customer Success®

Barentz North America history

Through strategic acquisitions over the past six years, Barentz has grown to become one of North America's leading specialty chemicals and ingredients distributors. Barentz operated at a broad national level in the U.S. market under the brand Maroon Group as well as across Canada under the brand Cambrian Solutions, serving customers across multiple industries including Personal Care, CASE & Plastics, Household Care, Industrial and Institutional Cleaning, Human Nutrition, and Specialty Intermediates.

In December 2020, Barentz acquired Maroon Group. The acquisition of Maroon Group expands Barentz' activities and is aligned with Barentz' strategy to become a global leader in the life science and broader specialty chemical industries.

Barentz North America continues to expand into Mexico with the acquisition of certain assets of Chemcel in January 2022, and into Central America with the acquisition of Divsa in March 2022.