b'PARTNER CONTENTA History Built in Leafy and Brassica CropsGeneral Manager Marcel Raats of Vilmorin North America discusses the companys rich history of growth.I f youve heard anything about leafydirect sales model for their focus crops.or brassica crops lately, the nameInstead of working through dealers, Vilmorin-Mikado was probably closelywe work directly with growers, Raats says. following the discussion. You might knowWe think we can bring added value by Vilmorin North America as the name ofhaving a shorter reaction time. We speak one of the few vegetable and specialty seeddirectly to growers to hear of the needs of subsidiaries, but what you might not knowthe people, which allows us to play more is the rich history the company has thateasily with availability.branches out so much further than justNot only that, but Raats says theyre this one area.able to create easy partnerships and au-Were not as typical as a regular sub- thority with those important customers. sidiary, says Marcel Raats, General Man- We have local breeding for both of our ager of Vilmorin North America. Werespecialtiesleafy greens and brassicas, breeding, producing and processing seedshe says. Ninety percent of leafy greens for not only for our own market, but also forthe North American market, are produced some export marketswere more thanin California and Yuma. So, we work on just a regular seed retailer. Marcel Raats serves as General Manager ofbreeding in those local conditions, to be Locally, Vilmorin North America hasVilmorin North America. close to the market.been in the game selling and producingBy breeding in local conditions, seeds in the U.S. and Canada for a longine, these two crop groups are now ourVilmorin-Mikado is able to adapt and cre-time. particular focus, but still offering manyate flexibility in their varieties because its Currently, our headquarters areother species as well to our customers. created in the zone of production. located in Salinas, California, Raats says.However, Raats shares that Vilmorin- If a new disease or a new strain, for In the past, carrots and some other cropsMikados able to have a wide gene pool alsoexample, of mildew pops up, our custom-were a major focus. However, Vilmorin- due to their connection not only with theers will be the first ones to know about it, Mikados intention was always to developcompanys roots in Europe, but also withRaats says. Our local breeding gives us a wider range of products to work with Asia because of the merge of Vilmorin withthe ability to react and start working with in particular, we had our sights set on theJapans Mikado Kyowa Seed. Being part ofvarieties to fight that resistance.brassicas and leafy crops.the Limagrain group, Vilmorin-Mikado isOverall, Raats believes this local pres-From there, Raats shared it was a step- also able to distribute brassica varietiesence really gives Vilmorin North America by-step process of acquiring local com- from their sister company HM.CLAUSE.an edge in the market. panies, such as Shamrock, a well-knownSaying this, were able to bring to theWere able to see whats going on, and company in the Salinas Valley in 2002.table a lot of different genetics: Asian,we can bring new trends to our customers We branched out into brassicas, par- European and American genetics, Raatsas quickly as possible, Raats says. Con-ticularly broccoli and cauliflower, and intosays. While it might not be unique, its asumers are always looking for new trends leafy greens such as baby leaves, Iceberg,huge advantage we can offer to our cus- in colors or taste or even shelf-life. Were Romaine lettuce, all types of other headtomers. able to take those demands and put them lettuces, spinach and specialties like Bel- What is unique, though, is the fact thatinto action as quickly as possible once we gium endive, he says. As you can imag- Vilmorin North America actually has ahear about them.OCTOBER 2020SEEDWORLD.COM /67'