Vestergaard (company)

Last updated
Vestergaard
Company typePrivate
Industry Public health
Technical textile
Food security
Founded1957
FounderKaj Vestergaard Frandsen
Headquarters Switzerland
Area served
World-wide
Key people
Board members:
Products Mosquito nets, Pest Control
BrandsPermaNet, ZeroFly, Tiny Targets
OwnerMikkel Vestergaard Frandsen
Number of employees
110
Website www.vestergaard.com

Vestergaard is a Swiss-based company that develops and manufactures insecticide treated fabrics for public health and crop protection. [1] Its innovations include the PermaNet product line of long-lasting insecticidal mosquito nets, widely used in malaria elimination programs; ZeroFly grain storage bags, which enhance food security in low- and middle-income countries; and Tiny Targets, designed to reduce the transmission of sleeping sickness by the Tsetse fly. [2] [3] The company was founded as Vestergaard Frandsen in 1957 and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It began as a uniform maker and evolved into a social enterprise making products for humanitarian aid in the 1990s. It is also known for inventing the LifeStraw water filter (now a separate company). [4]

Contents

History

Vestergaard was founded in 1957 by Kaj Vestergaard Frandsen, a former farmer and the grandfather of current owner Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen. [4] Kaj founded the company with a friend before doing it alone. [5] The company made linings for jackets and uniforms. [4] [5] Kaj's son Torben took over in 1970. Production was first moved to Ireland and then to Poland in 1989. [5]

In 1990, Torben bought up 1 million yards of Swedish army surplus fabric used for uniforms, and turned it into blankets for aid organizations. That was the beginning of a change in focus of the company that continued after Mikkel was persuaded to join the company by his father in 1993. [4] [5] Mikkel had worked in Lagos from the age of 19 running a truck company, which "ignited his passion for Africa." [6] He left Nigeria following a military coup and returned to Denmark to work with his father. [5] In 1997 Torben and Mikkel agreed to split the company into separate female uniform and humanitarian textiles businesses, and then Mikkel bought out his father and stopped producing uniforms. [5]

Under Mikkel's leadership the company focused on the business model of humanitarian entrepreneurship, product innovation that improves lives of people and makes a profit. [7] [8] [9]

The company's PermaNet bed nets were launched in 1999, ZeroFly entered the market in 2004, and LifeStraw was introduced in 2005. [10] A second ZeroFly product, insecticide-treated storage bags were launched in 2015. [11] Those products align with Vestergaard's commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals: public health and food security. [9]

The company moved headquarters from Kolding to Lausanne in 2005–6, which it said was to better attract specialist employees and due to the presence of international organizations such as UN agencies and the Red Cross in Switzerland. [12] In 2010, the company was around 20 times the size of when Mikkel joined it. [13] Vestergaard has continued to work on product innovations for vector borne illnesses, water borne illnesses and food security. In 2007, due to the increase in insecticide resistant mosquitoes, a new bednet was developed as a combination net with increased efficacy against mosquitoes resistant to insecticides. Vestergaard has been a member of the UN Global Compact since 2008 and initiated, then participated in the Bed Net Industry Dialogue hosted by the Global Business Coalition in 2009. [14] In 2012, Vestergaard developed IR Mapper, an online tool for mapping insecticide resistance. [15]

Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen stepped down as CEO in January 2020 and was replaced by Michael Joos. [16]  In 2023, Amar Ali was named CEO. [17]

Products

Vestergaard continues to work on product innovations for vector borne illnesses, crop protection and food security.

Recognition

The company was named as a Fast Company Top 50 company in 2007. [4] The company won The Economist ’s Social and Economic Innovation Award in 2009. [6]

References

  1. ↑ Noemie (2024-11-05). "Vestergaard redoubles B Corp commitment through recertification". B Lab Switzerland. Retrieved 2025-06-29.
  2. ↑ "Vestergaard Introduces PermaNet Mosquito Screen". Pest Control Technology. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  3. ↑ "Vestergaard Introduces PermaNet Mosquito Screen". Pest Control Technology. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fishman, Charles (2007). "The 6th Annual Fast 50 - 31: Vestergaard Frandsen". Fast Company. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Freedman, Michael (26 December 2005). "A Fine Mesh". Forbes. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  6. 1 2 Savova, Boriana (October 2009). "Leadership interview: "A leader anticipates and prepares for change"". Roll Back Malaria. Archived from the original on November 5, 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  7. ↑ Agrawal, Swati (September 2014). "Creating successful business model: lessons for social entrepreneurship" . Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  8. ↑ Wolfson, Elijah (4 March 2015). "Work Smarter: Can the Private Sector Replace NGOs in the Developing World?". Newsweek. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  9. 1 2 Saldinger, Adva (7 January 2016). "How a textile company became a development powerhouse". Devex. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  10. ↑ "Climate change mitigation and food loss and waste reduction". CCAFS Working Paper.
  11. ↑ "Bingham's global work promotes food security, health protections | Nebraska Today". news.unl.edu. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  12. ↑ "Fortsat udflagning i Vestergaard Frandsen". Business.dk. October 17, 2006. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  13. ↑ Cheshire, Tom (1 March 2010). "Work Smarter: Vestergaard Frandsen". Wired. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  14. ↑ "Improving Global Bed Net Procurement: Stakeholder Action Proposal" (PDF). Global Business Coalition. 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  15. ↑ Knox, Tessa (7 February 2014). "An online tool for mapping insecticide resistance in major Anopheles vectors of human malaria parasites and review of resistance status for the Afrotropical region". Parasites & Vectors. Vol. 7. doi: 10.1186/1756-3305-7-76 .
  16. ↑ "Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen hands over reins as CEO of Vestergaard, leaving a legacy of impact that has protected hundreds of millions of people from malaria, waterborne disease and food scarcity". AP News. 30 January 2020.
  17. ↑ "Amar Ali - Chief Executive Officer at Vestergaard". THE ORG. Retrieved 2025-06-29.
  18. ↑ "Carter Center Program Donors". Carter Center. 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  19. ↑ Alter, Lloyd (August 21, 2015). "INDEX: The ZeroFly storage bag can significantly reduce food waste". TreeHugger. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  20. ↑ McNeil, Donald (3 February 2009). "A Company Prospers by Saving Poor People's Lives". New York Times. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  21. ↑ "Vestergaard renews fight against sleeping sickness with tiny targets donation | HealthCare Middle East & Africa Magazine". 2025-02-03. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
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