Van Kleef

What kind of company is Van Kleef?

Van Kleef is a small privately owned heritage company combining a jenever and liqueur producer, museum, liquor shop, wholesale business, and events venue in The Hague.

Is Van Kleef a public company?

No. Van Kleef is privately owned by Fleur Kruyt and has no outside shareholders or stock listing.

Where is Van Kleef headquartered?

The company is located on the Lange Beestenmarkt in the historic center of The Hague, South Holland, Netherlands, in its original 1842 premises.

Who owns Van Kleef?

Fleur Kruyt owns and operates the business. She took over in 2015 following the death of Louis Centazzo, who relaunched the company with her around 2000.

How many brands does Van Kleef own?

The company operates a single brand under the Van Kleef name, covering its jenevers, liqueurs, bitters, and heritage operations.

When was Van Kleef founded and when did it reopen?

The company was founded in 1842, closed as a working distillery in 1986, and was revived as a museum-shop business in the 1990s, with the definitive relaunch around 2000.

Lambertus Theodorus van Kleef established his distillery on the Lange Beestenmarkt in The Hague's old center in 1842, producing jenever, fine liqueurs, and bitter extracts. The house grew into a full first-class steam distillery that manufactured, imported, and exported an extensive range of distilled beverages sold through the adjacent liquor shop.

Through the later 19th century the firm prospered. A new shopfront was built around 1870, the jenever won an award at the 1892 Paris exhibition, and a steam boiler was installed the same year. The company's products circulated well beyond the city through export trade.

The family era ended in 1964 when the business was sold to H. Averdieck. Demand for traditional jenever declined through the postwar decades, and in 1986 Van Kleef closed as the last operating distillery in The Hague. Its archive went to the municipal archive, and the production buildings behind the shop were demolished over fire risk, leaving the shop structure and eight underground alcohol cellars.

Urban restoration firm NV Stadsherstel acquired the property in 1987, and after renovation the site reopened around 1991. A series of attempted restarts under different operators failed until Louis Centazzo and Fleur Kruyt relaunched the business around 2000, establishing the current museum-shop-wholesale format. Centazzo died unexpectedly in 2015, and Kruyt has run the company since, maintaining it as both a working business and a heritage site.

Van Kleef has no formal sustainability program or third-party certifications. Its footprint is small, production is traditional and low-volume, and the business preserves a protected historic building rather than developing new facilities. Ingredients are natural and recipes historic, consistent with its heritage positioning.

The company's jenever was awarded at the Paris exhibition of 1892 during the distillery's commercial peak. In the modern era, recognition is cultural rather than commercial: Van Kleef is consistently listed among The Hague's essential historic attractions, and the business is treated as living industrial heritage by local history organizations.