Enza Zaden is a vegetable breeding company from

Enkhuizen Enkhuizen () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. History Enkhuizen, like Hoorn and Amsterdam, was one of the harbor-towns of the VOC, from where overseas trade wi ...

Enza Zaden web site - Head Office. in

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

, which produces

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

seeds for the professional market. The company belongs to the ten biggest vegetable breeding companies in the world and has over thirty

subsidiaries A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a sa ...

Enza Zaden web site - Subsidiaries page and over 2,000 employees. Beside the main crops:

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

cucumber Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated Vine#Horticultural climbing plants, creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical Fruit, fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.

and

lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of food, ...

, Enza Zaden also breeds

melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a "pepo". The ...

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

, and many other vegetables. "Enza" is an abbreviation from the old name "''Enkhuizer Zaadwinkel''"

History

Enza Zaden was founded in 1938 by Jacob Mazereeuw as "De Enkhuizer Zaadwinkel". Initially the company sold vegetable seeds,

potatoes The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern United ...

and

legumes A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock fo ...

. In 1944 the company name was changed into "De Enkhuizer Zaadhandel". After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the company focused entirely on professional breeding of vegetables. In 1959 one of Jacob's sons, Piet, started the first plant breeding activities of the company. In 1962, his newly developed

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

of tomato, "''Extase''", came on the market, and was very successful. The success which followed gave the company the opportunity to develop itself further. In the 1980s, Enza expanded further internationally with plant breeding activities on

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

starting in 1984, a first foreign subsidiary in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 1985 and a first R&D-station abroad (opened in 1987 in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

). Today, the research sections and commercial subsidiaries of the company are established in all continents.

Activities

The main activity of Enza Zaden is developing new vegetable varieties for domestic and foreign customers. Enza Zaden focusses on the breeding of taste, looks, yield, labor friendliness and plant disease resistance. Enza Zaden breeds its products on the classical way, so without

genetic modification Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...

. Enza Zaden does use advanced technologies in the breeding process. The company offers fruit vegetables that include tomatoes, sweet peppers, cucumbers, melons, squash, pumpkins, hot peppers, and eggplants; and leafy vegetables that comprise lettuce, endive, corn salad, spinach, radicchio, chicory, and celery. It also provides allium that consists of leek and onions; root vegetables, such as radish, fennel, and celeriac; herbs, which include basil, celery cut, chervil, chive, Chinese chive, coriander, dill, parsley, and rucola; and brassicas, including cauliflower, kohlrabi, and broccoli. Enza Zaden has a seed production company in

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

, Africa.
Enza Zaden web site - Seed Operations There, and at other production locations, the company grows for sale. It has subsidiary locations in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Tanzania, Turkey, the United States, and United Kingdom. Enza Zaden is a part of the foundation

Seed Valley A seed is an Plant embryogenesis, embryonic plant enclosed in a testa (botany), protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, includ ...

, a partnership between companies in North Holland who are active in the

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

References

External links

Enza Zaden Home Page
*{{OpenCorp, Enza Zaden Agriculture companies of the Netherlands Plant breeding Agriculture companies established in 1938 Food and drink companies established in 1938 1938 establishments in the Netherlands Dutch brands Dutch companies established in 1938