[4] From 1895, Heijn started roasting his own brand of coffee in a laundry room in his Oostzaan location and in 1910, several other self-produced items were added, including confectionery, cakes and pastry.

[5] In 1920, all enterprises were combined in the Maatschappij tot Exploitatie der Fabrieken en Handelszaken (Lit.

[4] Albert Heijn Sr. benefited from the industrialization that brought prosperity through fixed wages for factory workers and a new group of rich people.

The new construction made it easier for Albert Heijn's new parent company to enter the foreign market.

In October of the same year, Etos was acquired, a number of stores were converted into Albert Heijn and the rest continued as a drugstore within Ahold.

[10] In order to win back customers and leave the expensive image behind, Albert Heijn decided to start a large-scale price reduction in the same year.

At the end of 2006, managing director Dick Boer announced that Albert Heijn would stop lowering prices.

The company was founded by Simon de Wit (1852–1934), who after his father's death in 1867 started a grocery store from his parental house in Wormerveer.

In 1888 he opened the first branch in Amsterdam and by 1900 he ran stores at 30 different locations and owned a central warehouse in Zaandam.

[15] Albert Heijn also distinguishes itself by the steadily growing range of organic and ecological products, reducing the use of plastics and investing in sustainable construction and transport.

The expansion of the sustainable range was brought under the umbrella brand "Puur & Eerlijk" in 2009, under the leadership of Dick Boer, with adjustments to stricter certification and change of packaging.

In addition to an ever-growing impressive number of stores - both franchise and in-house - the chain also operates seven "Home Shop Centers" in Almere, Eindhoven, Rotterdam, De Meern, Amsterdam, Oosterhout and Bleiswijk.