The Italian vegetable seed company Cora Seeds has acquired KWS Group’s onion and squash programs, a 160-year-old company specialized in research and seed production for various crops with a turnover of more than EUR 1.5 billion and more than 5,100 employees worldwide.
“The acquisition of the breeding programs and the commercial varieties is a strategic operation for us”, Maurizio Bacchi, Cora Seeds CEO, says. “It allows us to enrich the genetic material on onion, the first crop and flagship of the company which has been leading in several international markets. Now it will be possible to push even harder for research and innovation, in order to provide growers with more and more performing varieties and meet the market needs. Our product range, for example, includes now the long day white onion Quarzo F1, a variety appreciated for its regular shape, shiny white colour and good shelf life. Quarzo F1 has a vigorous plant with upright and healthy leaf apparatus and a round, uniform and well-covered bulb. It also has a good tolerance to green coloration; moreover, the quality of its colour doesn’t change while stored”.
This operation also confirms the willingness of Cora Seeds to invest in squash development. “We will integrate the product pipeline acquired from KWS with our own. We aim to reach a broader and deeper offer for the main squash markets around the world ,” concludes Bacchi. “Improving our genetics is important to accelerate varietal innovation. Our team will soon grow stronger thanks to the addition of a new breeder who will focus on squash, since we believe that this crop can represent a further growth potential for Cora Seeds”.
