As the founder of Exaco, Andrew Cook has made it his mission to bring European gardening culture to North America.

Andrew grew up in Rotterdam, close to the Dutch capital of Amsterdam. As a kid, he observed how his family and neighbors lived closely with the land and their surroundings. Backyard gardens were extremely common, as were greenhouses that extended the growing season through periods of frost in early spring and late fall. Composting was nearly ubiquitous, since everyone who gardened could put the resulting soil to immediate use. People also seemed aware of the environmental benefits of resource capture and reuse, evident in their use of rain barrels and focus on recycling.

All of this fostered Andrew’s interest in environmentally sustainable living. He studied first at the Royal Agricultural University in England, and then across the pond at Texas A&M (BS Agricultural Economics) and Cornell (MS Business Management). It was on this sojourn to the United States—one that was destined to last through the present day—that Andrew saw a business opportunity. Americans, after all, also have a history of living closely with the land. There was no reason, he thought, that European gardening products—and, by extension, European gardening culture—couldn’t find a market here if he could make the introduction.

In the decades since, Andrew has devoted himself to bringing that vision to life. He was joined by his wife, Kim Tyson Cook, in 2000, following her two decades as a staff reporter for the Austin American-Statesman. Together, they grew Exaco into a national distribution business, bringing quality European greenhouses and globally sourced gardening products to retailers in all fifty states and most Canadian provinces. Andrew’s strategic vision and European business connections, combined with Kim’s attention to detail, have been an integral part of Exaco’s story.

As interest in backyard gardening grew dramatically during the COVID pandemic, Andrew and Kim decided to open a greenhouse and garden showroom for Exaco in the Austin suburb of Pflugerville. Today, visitors to Exaco can walk through 14 staged greenhouse models and explore many of our composting and gardening products in person. We encourage you to stop by and see us!