History

The 2005 merge of the Belgian seed company SES Europe and the Dutch company VanderHave led to the creation of SESVanderHave, one of the leading international sugarbeet seed companies. The history of the two companies goes far back.

VanderHave, founded in 1879, has its origin in the Dutch province of Zeeland. In 1941, VanderHave starts with the breeding of sugarbeet seed. In 1977, VanderHave is taken over by Cosun (Sugar Union).

The foundations of SES Europe were laid in 1948, after World War II, with the foundation of the S.B.G.B. (Belgian Company for Sugar Beet Seeds). In the years after its foundation, the S.B.G.B. gained the trust of the European farmers and was forced to burst out of the Belgian borders. In 1972, the S.B.G.B. merged with an Italian seed house and was renamed SES. In 1987, SES was taken over by the British multinational ICI, which decided to station all its seed activities in Zeneca, a separate international company. The name SES Europe existed until 1996, when Zeneca and Cosun merged into Advanta, the world’s fifth largest seed company.

The last episode happened in 2005, when Advanta sold her sugarbeet activities to the French Florimond Desprez group. SESVanderHave was born and is now a company 100% focused on sugarbeet seed.

TODAY

The SESVanderHave group as we know it today, came into being in 2005 after the purchase of Advanta’s world wide sugarbeet seed activities by the French Florimond Desprez group. Nevertheless, SESVanderHave maintains an independent course with a full genetic research program complete sugar beet seed production and its worldwide sales. Supported by the shareholders, the company is armed even better to face the challenges of the ever changing sugar beet market.

SESVanderHave tries to deliver a quality product with an expert and well-considered approach, hereby respecting every party involved. We deliver in more than fifty countries all over the world, since the world is our market. SESVanderHave is also known for its excellent customer service, which we have built up through our own branches in sixteen countries - from the United States to China. Where we don’t have a branch, we work with local agents. Our approach works, and we can prove it with sales figures. The last few years, SESVanderHave is by marketshare the largest sugarbeet seed producer in the European Union.