Tag Archives: KWS

KWS sells potato business

KWS which is best known as a breeder and supplier of arable crop seeds has announced that it will sell its conventional seed potato business to Stet Holland B.V.

The business was formed in 2011 after KWS took over the business of Van Rijn, with who it had been working with for a number of years. Both companies are based at Emmeloord and the sale includes processing, crisping and table varieties. KWS will continue to operate in hybrid and novel potato breeding techniques.

“The future owner Stet Holland is positioned for a successful continuation of our conventional potato business while KWS will fully focus its efforts in potato utilizing its resources and know-how as a breeder to develop hybrid varieties,” commented Peter Hofmann, of KWS SAAT SE. “Hybrid breeding in potato and multiplication via seed instead of tubers is an entirely new but highly promising approach that has considerable advantages compared to conventional breeding. We have been working in this innovative field since 2011 and have achieved significant progress in the meantime.”

Peter Ton, General Manager of Stet Holland added, “KWS’ seed potato business is an excellent fit for Stet as the markets for the current KWS and Stet varieties are very complementary to each other. Taking over KWS’ variety portfolio, seed potato production, and sales channels will enable us to create synergies and gain presence in key markets and specific processing segments. KWS’ varieties, breeding material and expert employees, combined with a good customer base, will help us to strengthen Stet’s position in the seed potato market.”

Photo Credit: KWS

The post KWS sells potato business appeared first on Hort News on 15 April 2016.