Erik van der Schaaf grew up in a real paint and coatings family. His grandfather had a paint factory, paint shop and his own painting business. Erik’s father made another coating company big.

Erik started in his father’s wholesale business and has been very creditable in growing the business. He has always been very interested in new products and opportunities in the coating market. When fire-resistant  coatings came on the rise, Erik expanded his coatings network with many international contacts. For example, Erik had intense contacts early on with PPG, Akzo, and Jotun, among others. Erik’s interest was and still is in unique, distinctive coatings.

Education and Work Experience

After graduating with a degree in Management, Erik started his career in the coatings industry. Early on, he started to expand his international network and gained a lot of knowledge about the international coatings market. His interest in international coatings is also shown by the fact that he did an internship at Jotun Coatings in Norway.

Erik has contributed to the development of many new products. Thanks to his creative and inventive spirit, he has contributed to the development of new packaging for several companies. In short, he is a versatile, experienced international player in the coatings industry with more than 25 years of active work experience in the industry.

Coatings industry and online

Erik van der Schaaf saw early on that the internet would have a huge impact on the promotion and presentation of the coatings industry.  Early on, Erik explored the additional opportunities of connecting the international coatings market and serving the demand for specialty, niche coatings online, as well as the opportunities for business-to-consumer marketing.

With this knowledge, Erik spearheaded the founding of a global coating platform. After managing the platform as CEO for several years, he stepped-out and sold his shares.

Erik and adhesives+coatings

Erik was involved as a consultant in the launch of adhesivesandcoatings.com, an online environment for adhesives and coatings, where specific niche products are presented for a specific business-to-business market. A market in which he feels perfectly at home.

Erik van der Schaaf and adhesives+coatings intensified their contacts and as of June 1, 2023 Erik has joined  as a coatings specialist.