Century-old firm established in Morgan Hill in 1977
Published in the Nov. 12-25, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
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By Staff Report
Photo by Marty Cheek
David Armstrong, Sakata Seeds president and CEO, examines seeds in the company’s North American headquarters in Morgan Hill.
At its headquarters on a quiet drive in an industrial park in north Morgan Hill, Sakata Seeds America Inc. since the early 1980s has been producing the seeds to provide Americans with many of their fruit, vegetables and flowers. Sakata Seeds Corporation is a Yokohama, Japan-based global company that celebrated its 100th anniversary last year. Sakata Seed America was established in 1977 as the parent company’s first subsidiary and serves as a research, production and sales division.
“We’re global leaders in a range of vegetable crops, including broccoli. So if you’re eating broccoli there’s probably an 80 percent chance that you’re consuming Sakata genetics,” said David Armstrong, who has served as the CEO/president of the North American division for five years.
Armstrong leads about 110 Sakata employees based at the Morgan Hill headquarters in work to improve seed genetics using traditional hybrid breeding practices. Staff members work on administrative, finance, payroll, sales and marketing, but the site also has a milling and processing facility where seed comes from production areas and is cleaned and packaged for customers.
Unlike some seed companies, Sakata does not use genetically modified organisms techniques, which are controversial as they involve combining genetics from different species. Its vegetable research facilities include stations in Salinas, Yuma, Arizona, and Fort Myers, Florida. It also does flower research at facilities including the California Research Station and Elite Propagation Facility in Salinas.
One reason Sakata Seeds set up its North American base in Morgan Hill was because the community is near the rich agricultural industries of the Salinas, San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys where many of its partners such as growers, distributors, specialized suppliers and universities are centered.
“When Sakata was looking for a facility back in the early 80s, this part of Santa Clara Valley was pretty agricultural, believe it or not – as you look around today it’s pretty hard to imagine that,” Armstrong said. “And it was also a center of a seed industry and certainly of an agricultural industry. Over the years that has evolved and a lot of the seed industry have moved more into the Sacramento Valley, or in a lot of cases out of the area…. The quality of life (in Morgan Hill) is pretty good, too. The climate is pretty great. There’s a lot of micro-climates in the Bay Area and we take advantage of Morgan Hill’s particularly lovely climate.”
Overall, the business environment in Morgan Hill has been very positive for Sakata Seeds, Armstrong said, with an active community and vibrant downtown area a five minute drive from headquarters.
“The infrastructure of Morgan Hill is very well maintained and we take advantage of that,” he said. “For our staff who live in the area, they’re very positive about how Morgan Hill has developed over the years. There’s a fairly robust downtown that’s engaging and attractive for bringing new folks into our company. We enjoy what Morgan Hill has to offer.”
Sakata Seeds also tries to be involved in the community. The company is a member of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce, and in the past few years, it has enhanced itself as a leader in sustainability by working on establishing a solar energy production plant on its site. This system was dedicated at a ribbon cutting in October 2013 and represents one of the largest solar-powered projects to be built in Santa Clara County.
Sakata has also donated seeds to local schools such as El Toro Elementary School to encourage children to learn about the importance of plant genetics through educational school gardens.
“Sakata strives to have a positive, healthy and sustainable impact on the people, communities and food we touch,” Armstrong said. “The city of Morgan Hill shares our vision and is a great environment that fosters and promotes living healthy and productive lives.”
