1969-1975: The global oil crisis leads to many uncertainties, but the company manages to grow anyway
The year 1973 was the culmination of the first global oil crisis which would lead to an inflation of 10% in the following two years in the Netherlands. The high inflation led to fears with the three Sneeboer brother Kees, Paul and Teun and their accountant that sales would drop significantly, as it did with different industries in that period. Thankfully, they recognized that there would always be a need for quality products and the company had plenty of orders for stainless steel garden tools and fire places. The three brothers kept true to the values of their father and they kept producing Sneeboer stainless steel garden tools of the best quality. Even with these uncertainties, Sneeboer traded internationally with an order for 6 spades in February 1974 for the UK Ministry of Agriculture.
Besides the oil crisis, land owners started to consolidate their land where they exchanged and sold lots to make the ownership of land more logical. This meant that the a lot of Sneeboer customers left the area and Sneeboer had to find different sources of revenue. In the middle of these issues, Teun Sneeboer passed away on 27 March 1978. The loss of their young brother and business partner meant that the ‘70s were a tough time for the Sneeboer family and company. However, reinforcements were incoming when the third generation were ready to join the company.
