Who we are

We are Rijk Zwaan. A fruit and vegetable breeding company. Every day, millions of people eat fruit and vegetables grown from our seeds.

ZA | Hero-L | VI24 | About us

Rijk Zwaan at a glance

4,000+ employees

in over 30+ countries

30% to R&D

of our annual turnover

30+ crops

over more than 1800 fruit and vegetable varieties

People first

At Rijk Zwaan, we believe in putting people first. Our company culture plays a key role in everything we do. For us, this means prioritising the well-being and satisfaction of employees, customers, and stakeholders. By creating a supportive and inclusive culture, we aim to foster long-term success and positive societal impact.

Rijk Zwaan in South Africa

Rijk Zwaan has been active in South Africa via distributors for more than 20 years and has become the market leader in cucumber and leafy salad crops. Rijk Zwaan also has a strong position in several other crops in South Africa, such as sweet pepper, tomato and melon. As of July 1, 2015 Rijk Zwaan South Africa has been established. Our employees are experienced and motivated and include sales reps in all the important growing areas and a serious capacity for product development. By developing products and by sharing knowledge and experience about cultivation as well as marketing, our ambition is to help the South African vegetable sector to reach the next level. 

Continuous innovation

Rijk Zwaan is a family-owned international fruit and vegetable breeding company supplying seeds to growers in more than 100 countries.

Research is at our core. We breed future-proof varieties in anticipation of climate change and ever-changing market demands. To accelerate the breeding process and ensure high-quality seeds, we utilise modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, digital phenotyping, and data-driven breeding. This enables us to breed better, more sustainable varieties with higher yields and natural resistances to plant diseases for growers and chain partners all over the world.

Seeds at the start of the food chain

Rijk Zwaan develops high-quality fruit and vegetable varieties for the professional agri-food sector. As an independent family-owned company, we operate globally in over 100 countries. With more than 30 different crops and over 1,800 varieties, we provide high-quality seeds to growers worldwide. Our aim is to offer a wide range of fruit and vegetable varieties, whether for high-tech greenhouse, protected cultivation or open-field farming.