Sakata has integrated Allium Seeds Ltd’s onion and shallot seed business, marking a logical continuation of a partnership established twelve years ago. In a statement, the company said the acquisition aligns with Sakata’s ongoing strategy to diversify its crop portfolio and broaden its onion offering for European markets.
The collaboration with Allium Seeds has concentrated on intermediate and long-day onion types, resulting in the creation of several high-performing new varieties. For instance, Rosanna (an attractive, pink-skinned onion), is already being marketed, while ONI21039 F1, currently in the trial phase, is a promising long-day brown onion with high yield potential and excellent storability.
Allium Seeds, a British company specialising in breeding bulb onion and shallot varieties for the professional British and Irish markets was created in March 2011 by David O’Connor who will continue to advise Sakata. It will now operate as Allium Solutions Ltd, with a focus on onion sets. Operationally, Sakata welcomes ten team members from the British breeding company and the current Allium Seeds site, located near Sakata UK’s existing station at Sutterton in Lincolnshire, will be integrated into Sakata.
“This acquisition is in line with Sakata’s commitment to long-term innovation”, says Basile de Bary, CEO of Sakata EMEA. “Our growing collaboration with David O’Connor and his team made this step a logical next move.”
“This move strengthens Sakata’s position in the onion and shallot segment and supports our ambition to offer a diverse and high-performing seed portfolio,” adds Stuart Cox, Managing Director of Sakata Central and Northern Europe, who initiated the partnership twelve years ago. “Sakata combines ancestral know-how and high technology to create vegetable seeds that meet stringent requirements: yield, taste, disease resistance, adaptation to climatic hazards, etc. By continuing to supply high-quality varieties and seeds, Sakata continues to contribute to improving global nutrition and sustainable agriculture.”
