Diastatische Producten was established in 1936 by two Dutchmen, Herman Kunst and Jan Nieuwenhuizen Segaar. After a short period in The Hague, they purchased an old schoolbuilding in Voorschoten in 1938. This part of Voorschoten was taken over by Leiden in 1969 and so we are now located in Leiden. The building borders the Old Rhine, which was considered important for the supply of raw materials and transport of maltextract to the harbour of Rotterdam.

The building had to be radically renovated to make place for various machinery, as well as a steamboiler and a coal bunker.

Due to World War II there was virtually no production until 1946. In 1962 a spray drying facility was added. Despite various adaptations, the old building no longer complied with customer needs, and in 1989 a completely new construction project began to take form.

The old school building completely disappeared, in its place a new, modern building was placed, to comply with hygiene standards as well as the need for additional production capacity. The only original part to this date is the office, which is housed in the old principals house.

Click on the thumbnails below to view some of our facilities.


Pictures courtesy of Mr. Bavelaar, Stichting Industrieel Erfgoed Leiden.