DIGITAL digest

The company was started in 1877 by Lodewijk van der Grinten, who was a pharmacist, not a printer. He developed an edible coloring that gave pale winter butter and margarine the attractive yellow color of summer butter.

Its roots in printing trace back to Lodewijk’s grandson, Louis van der Grinten, who invented a new ammonia-free diazo process for copying technical drawings that became very popular, according to van Iperen. He added that the company’s acquisition of Siemens Nixdorf Printing in 1996 was also a significant development.