Jun 16, 2022

Sakata Seed America relocates, expands facilities

Sakata Seed America has two new business establishments in major California agricultural centers: Salinas Valley and Woodland.

Since 1988, Sakata Seed America has operated its North American headquarters in Morgan Hill, California. The company recently initiated plans to relocate its headquarters, including all operations and personnel functions, to its 219-acre site in Woodland by late 2024.

The planned relocation to the Woodland Innovation Center (WIC) will follow the second phase of an infrastructure expansion project that began in 2016. WIC celebrated its official opening in 2018, when phase one of the building project was completed, which boasted 16 acres of operational facilities. That includes greenhouses, a LEED-certified office, headhouse, washery, a 25,000-square-foot warehouse with the latest technology in seed processing equipment, and a farm shop. In addition, there is ample farmland to host Sakata’s annual California Field Days event and serve as a permanent trialing location for the company’s expanding breeding programs and research & development department.

“The expansion of our Woodland Innovation Center is an exciting and necessary step for the future of Sakata,” Dave Armstrong, president and CEO, said in a news release. “As we broaden our leadership position in a range of warm crops, it’s imperative that we support our growing business and deepen our roots in one of the world’s most dynamic growing regions: the ‘Silicon Valley of seed.’

“Our headquarters relocation to Woodland reflects our commitment to California’s vital agriculture and seed sectors, and the investment enables us to consolidate R&D and multiple other functions on a single, state-of-the-art campus,” Armstrong said in the release.

In May, Sakata also opened a new facility in Marina, California, near Salinas. The Sakata Marina Distribution Center is a 20,000-square-foot, temperature-controlled warehouse and office building. The distribution center is now home to the company’s lettuce seed program and in the future will store and deliver multiple species, including Sakata’s robust brassica program, for the Coastal California region in 2024.

“We aim to supply high quality seed and market leading genetics to the Salinas Valley, a community in which we’ve grown and operated since 1985,” Executive Vice President John Nelson said in the release. “Marina is centrally located in the area and provides us with all means necessary to support our innovative breeding programs, as well as our growth in the Salinas Valley and neighboring growing regions.”

Sakata Seed America has long been known for its outstanding brand presence and market share in broccoli and has also made significant investments in recent years in infrastructure and personnel to expand its market share in multiple other crops.  The company’s efforts are focused on integrating a network of research stations throughout North America, including its recently opened Culiacán Innovation Center in Mexico, to foster collaboration for Sakata’s global breeding team on tomato, pepper, watermelon and melon, among others.

The California Field Days allow dealers, growers and retailers to meet with Sakata’s product managers, sales, marketing and research and development staff. The field days are scheduled for:

• Salinas: Aug. 15-16
• Woodland: Aug. 17-18

To learn more about Sakata genetics and company history, visit SakataVegetables.com.