George Keune - 70 years with the firm

July 2021 - George Keune Sr., president/owner of the biggest family-owned haircosmetics company in the world has been with the firm for 70 years. Dutch business instincts and his own innovative strengths have enabled George Keune Sr. to acquire a unique and leading position in the international market for high-quality, professional haircosmetics. He remains involved in operational management to this day. In 1952, George Keune Senior joined the firm founded by his father, the pharmacist Jan Keune, in 1922. After George’s arrival, the firm started tapping foreign markets. Jan Keune did not share his son’s drive to expand, but George realized that Keune’s exports would secure the future of the brand. Keune has now grown to become the world’s second-largest family-owned business in hair cosmetics.

Keune is a Dutch family firm that has been loyal to hairdressers for nearly 100 years. George Keune Senior’s global mission is to empower hair professionals. His ambition is to be the best business partner. Keune assists hairdressing entrepreneurs in all kinds of ways: quality products, innovative education, and comprehensive business and marketing support. With this total package, Keune takes care of all hairdressers’ needs, giving them more time to pursue their creative profession. Besides its head office, Keune Haircosmetics also has subsidiaries in Belgium, France, Germany, Croatia, and the United States. Keune products are exported to every continent. Tens of thousands of hairdressers in over 85 countries use these professional hair care products in their salons. George is a businessman through and through, but it is his creative activities that really define him. He has designed many Keune packagings himself and he was even responsible for the basic design of the 30,000 m2 business complex built-in 1995 in Soest.

Besides his passion for business, George Keune Sr. also believes in social commitment to his employees. In 1996, he founded the Keune Group, a group of 17 colleagues with learning difficulties who have their own production line within his operation. Keune Haircosmetics remains the only family-owned business in the Netherlands that develops, produces and distributes hair products from A to Z itself. George Keune Sr. is president and owner and his son Eelco Keune, the third generation, is CEO. The fact that the company has been operating as a family-owned business for 99 years makes it unique. The fourth generation is now being nurtured – they are currently still at school.

George Keune Sr. has not yet given any thought to retirement. He is still busy every day making new plans to enhance the position of his business worldwide.