In the second half of the 19 e century, chemists and other scientists were reluctant to act in the service of economic interests. This gave the chemical laboratory a central place in the colonial cultivation of cinchona, the raw material for the antimalarial drug quinine. And that in turn helped to build up the Dutch monopoly on kina that was established at the beginning of the 20 e century came to full bloom, according to historian Arjo Roersch van der Hoogte. On December 21, he obtained his doctorate at Utrecht University for his study of the Dutch kina monopoly.
The possessions in Asia bring great wealth to the colonial powers. There is a lot to gain there, but you also walk on everything. In British India, the Dutch East Indies and other colonies, European soldiers and officials succumb en masse to malaria. Thanks to Spanish overseas activities in South America, a solution is known. The cinchona tree (Cinchona officinalis) grows on the eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains. ). Jesuits, who work as missionaries here, learned about the medicinal properties of the bark of the cinchona tree from the local population as early as the seventeenth century. They use this bark to treat malaria, among other things. But it is not a really optimal treatment.
Growing cinchona yourself
That changes when in 1820 two French pharmacists succeed in isolating quinine from the cinchona bark. This is the active ingredient against malaria. Immediately the demand for cinchona bark explodes. The British see quinine as a tool of empire. Roersch van der Hoogte:“Kinine serves the interest of the state, because it is essential to literally keep the civil service and military apparatus in British India alive.” However, the supply of cinchona from Peru, the main supplier, is very unpredictable and the quality is also very variable. The British, but also the Dutch who have similar problems in the Dutch East Indies, want direct access to the cinchona bark. They want to grow cinchona trees themselves.
Meanwhile, the importance of the cinchona tree has of course not escaped the notice of the Peruvians. Just going inland and taking some plants with you, like you did before, is no longer in it. But strict controls can also be circumvented and the Dutch manage to ship no fewer than 500 cinchona plants to Batavia (Jakarta) through numerous shady exchange structures and botanists who operate under a pseudonym. Without success, not a single tree can last there.
The authorities are not going to let it go. In 1854 the Gouvernements Kina Onderneming is founded. This government company is intended to enable the cultivation of cinchona trees in the Dutch East Indies. The cultivation is moving to the higher area of Bandoeng (Bandung). The cinchona trees grow well there, but unfortunately the selected variety does not contain an ounce of quinine.
Servant Scientists
The Netherlands sends new people to Bandoeng to get things going, including the chemist Karel Wessel van Gorkum in 1858. He studied with the then famous professor Gerrit Jan Mulder of Utrecht University. “This Mulder has a clear vision of the role of his work,” says Roersch van der Hoogte. “According to him, chemistry should serve the economy and in this case colonial agriculture.”
Van Gorkum shares that vision and gets to work energetically. He brings chemistry to cinchona cultivation and sets up a laboratory within the Gouvernements Kina Onderneming. According to him, chemical analyzes are needed to make the field experiments and the breeding of the cinchona trees much more targeted. His approach reflects a much broader trend.
Roersch van der Hoogte:“From the middle of the nineteenth century we see that the laboratory is beginning to play a central role in industrial production. This starts in Germany, where the rapid growth of the dyes and pharmaceutical industries is driving the development of analytical chemistry. The demand for raw materials is growing and at the same time the quality requirements are becoming stricter. The importance of good analyzes is increasing. People can and do measure more and more.”
The laboratory's entry into cinchona cultivation is bearing fruit. In the 1870s, the Dutch succeeded in developing a new variety of the cinchona tree that can be grown well and contains an unprecedented high quinine content. In order to optimally exploit this result, the cultivation must go to the private sector. The Gouvernements Kina Onderneming makes an effort to get private planters to cultivate cinchona and makes plants, chemical analyses, advice and support available. Planters can make unlimited use of everything.
German hegemony
The plan is successful and several Dutch planters are focusing on cinchona cultivation. But soon a new horde emerges. The German pharmaceutical companies dominate the cinchona market because they have the best laboratories and the latest analysis techniques. “The Germans analyze the quinine content in a batch of cinchona bark and then determine the price. Because they are also by far the largest buyers, the control of the market is completely in their hands. The Dutch planters believe that this gives them a price that is too low for their product.” The solution sounds familiar:the planters will work together and set up a cooperative:the Bandoengsche Kininefabriek.
Time to carry out the analyzes of the quinine content yourself, thinks Pieter van Leersum, director of the Gouvernements Kina Onderneming at the time. He realizes that if control over the analysis of cinchona bark remains with the Germans, control of the market will also remain in German hands. The Dutch should be able to do this themselves. A new laboratory is needed and Van Leersum will house that lab at the Gouvernements Kina Onderneming. From then on, the Company functions as a research center for the entire quinine sector, from the cultivation of the trees to the analysis and production of quinine. “We see a very clear interaction here between 'state scientists' and the private sector, the planters,” says Roersch van der Hoogte. “This is where the basis of the later Dutch kina monopoly lies. Actually a top sector avant la lettre .”
Quality
According to him, the close collaboration between science, business and government also explains why the Netherlands ultimately manages to overtake the British as the main producer of cinchona. “The British have long been the largest producer, but they are not interested in growing cinchona for economic reasons. Their primary interest is the availability of an inexpensive antimalarial drug. They have developed that, but the quality of their kina is insufficient for the German pharmaceutical companies. Because the British have not set up a colonial scientific institute like the Dutch, it is not possible to improve the quality. This puts pressure on the price, causing many British cinchona planters to seek refuge elsewhere. They switch to tea. Moreover, it is much easier to renovate and at least as profitable.”
By continuing to focus on quality improvement and raising standards, just like the German pharmaceutical sector, the Dutch quinine producers are putting themselves in the spotlight internationally. In 1899 the Dutch planters also started their own market:the Batavia Kinamarkt. They will supply directly to American companies in particular and begin to tamper with the German hegemony in international trade.
Soon the Germans could no longer ignore the Dutch and in 1907 the Nederlandsche Kininefabriek, founded in 1903, was allowed to join the international Kinine Cartel. Until then, German companies were in control of this cartel. From that moment on, however, the Dutch advance is unstoppable. The Dutch producers not only deliver the highest quality, they can also quickly take care of the largest quota. The outbreak of the First World War plays into the hands of the Dutch. The German industry is becoming isolated and the Dutch quinine sector is stepping into the gap. The Netherlands takes control of the international kina market and manages to maintain that position until the end of the 1930s.