Hazera and TOP The Onion Group join forces in exclusive partnership for set onions
Posted on May 20, 2025
Focusing on quality, innovation, and shared expertise for the grower.
Hazera and TOP The Onion Group have entered into an exclusive, worldwide collaboration agreement for the supply of set onion seeds. From now on, Hazera will supply exclusively to TOP, who is responsible for the production and global distribution of first-year onion sets.
This strategic partnership goes beyond mere supply — both parties combine their strengths in variety development, cultivation guidance, and market knowledge. Hazera focuses on genetics and breeding, while TOP handles production.
Rien Murre (TOP The Onion Group) and Dirk Essing (Hazera)
A key competitive advantage is the cultivation in Northern France — a region with fertile, disease-free fields ideally suited for high-quality onion sets. Thanks to this unique position, TOP The Onion Group can provide growers with extremely reliable and vigorous planting material.
The shared goal is to supply growers worldwide with healthy and reliable planting material, tailored to diverse growing conditions. Hazera’s well-known onion varieties such as Crusado, Contado, Cupido, and Corrado are part of the portfolio and continue to be developed.
Innovating together for the future of onions
Erwin Groen (TOP The Onion Group) and Dirk Essing (Hazera) emphasize that the partnership enables them to respond faster to changing market conditions and to continue innovating together. Through knowledge sharing and close cooperation, they develop strong, practical varieties of high quality. This partnership is a win-win that raises the reliability and quality of onion sets to a higher level.
#GrowingTogether #InvestedExpertise
HAZERA: Growing Together
Hazera’s headquarters are situated in Israel and The Netherlands, with subsidiaries in twelve countries and an extensive distribution network providing services in over 100 additional markets. This worldwide presence enables us to be close to our customers.
Hazera is part of the Limagrain Group, an international agri-business based in France. Being a farmers’ cooperative, the Limagrain Group understands the needs of its customers and has grown to become the largest seed company in Europe, specialising in vegetables, field crops and cereal products. Limagrain’s vegetable seed division is the largest company in the industry.
The story of Centro, a high-performing onion variety now sold throughout Europe, is one of innovation and strategic focus.Over the years, Centro has become a key symbol of Hazera’s dedication to producing top-quality onions and driving success in the global market.
Thirty years ago, Hazera’s market share in onions was low. In 1993, a dedicated project team was formed, bringing together experts from R&D, Marketing, and Commercial divisions, along with an external onion specialist. The goal: to uncover the reasons behind the low market share and implement impactful changes to significantly improve it.
Through extensive discussions with key growers and packers, the team identified the core issues—low yield and poor skin quality—which led to low pack-out rates and considerable losses for customers. This realization helped the team set new priorities, focusing on four key traits: yield, skin quality, dormancy, and firmness.
Recognizing that “what gets measured, gets improved,” the team invested in a machine to accurately measure firmness. This new approach provided clear focus and helped define the right priorities. Over the next decade, Hazera’s onion team consistently used this tool during their evaluations, allowing them to identify clear differences in traits like yield and firmness between Hazera’s genetics and those of competitors.
Together with a group of colleagues, the team selected breeding number 37-58 F1 for development. It was thoroughly tested with leading growers in key onion-producing regions, and a detailed plan was created to guide the project in the years to come. Numerous trials confirmed the variety’s exceptional performance. The variety was named “Centro” due to its high rate of single centers and was first launched in key markets, the Netherlands and Germany. Within 6-7 years, Centro gained popularity and was adopted in many other countries.
Hazera’s long-term commitment and investments have led to a substantial increase in its market share for onions. Hazera continues to focus on breeding and the development of high-yielding varieties with unique traits.
Would you like to learn more about Centro? Contact us!
New collaboration: Innovative Tech for Monitoring Pollinators in Seed Production Fields
Posted on Jan 13, 2025
Hazera Seeds Ltd. and BeeHero Announce Collaborationto Evaluate Innovative Technology for Monitoring Pollinators in Seed Production Fields Around the Globe
The collaboration between Hazera and BeeHero will focus on BeeHero’s Pollination Insights Platform (PIP), whose aim is to provide farmers with precise information about pollination activity in seed fields
Tel Aviv, ISRAEL, January 15, 2025 – Hazera, a global vegetable seeds company and part of Limagrain Group’s vegetable seeds division, and BeeHero, the pioneer of data-driven precision pollination, announced a collaboration to evaluate BeeHero’s Pollination Insight Platform (PIP) for monitoring pollinators in seed production fields around the globe. This collaboration is the result of several years of joint efforts, including the use and evaluation of PIP in various seed fields.
According to Avi Gabai, Production Research Manager at Hazera, “As a leading company in the vegetable seed industry and part of the global Limagrain Group, we are excited to collaborate with a company specializing in precision pollination. Our ongoing collaboration with BeeHero since 2019 demonstrates that BeeHero’s technology can address one of the most critical challenges in modern agriculture – pollination. Our collaboration has shown that BeeHero’s technology can improve pollination efficiency, hive quality, and address the issue of bee colony loss.”
Efficient pollination is essential for seed production and agriculture in general, affecting yield and crop quality. Approximately 75% of major food crops depend on pollinators, with the honeybee being one of the most important pollinators in nature. The modern pollination industry, based on the transportation of beehives to fields during the pollination season, faces challenges such as declining bee populations and hive strength. Therefore, improving pollination efficiency is crucial to ensuring crop yield and quality. This is equally true for crops used in seed production, which have high economic value and strategic importance for human survival.
The Pollination Insights Platform (PIP) developed by BeeHero aims to ensure the pollination process and to provide real-time actionable information to farmers. This system includes IoT sensors installed in fields that collect various data on pollinator activity, the extent of flower visits where pollination occurs, and changing environmental conditions. This information is translated into actionable insights using artificial intelligence to improve pollination efficiency. Until now, this data was collected manually, partially, and inefficiently, so this solution can help farmers increase their overall productivity. The PIP system complements BeeHero’s in-hive sensors, enhancing their functionality.
The current collaboration between the two companies includes monitoring seed production fields in Israel and France, with plans to expand to additional regions in future seasons. The sensors installed in these fields measure bee activity, pollination distribution, bee behavior throughout the day, and other insights transmitted in real time to farmers, enabling them to maximize pollination capabilities in their fields – and consequently, the yield and quality of the seeds.
According to Omer Davidi, CEO and Co-Founder of BeeHero, “We are excited about our collaboration with Hazera, which combines extensive knowledge in seed production with advanced sensor technology and AI-based analytics to drive significant improvements in crop yield and quality while promoting sustainable agricultural practices. PIP allows for efficient pollination management for the first time, demonstrating how data and technology can advance an industry that has so far operated without measurement and transparency. We’re looking forward to continue working together with Hazera to optimize pollination for seed production and ensure the food supply for generations to come.”
Avi Gabai adds, “The heart of the collaboration lies in combining BeeHero’s technology with Hazera’s agricultural expertise. We support sustainable farming methods by improving bee health and ensuring more efficient resource use. Feedback we received from growers shows that data analysis from BeeHero’s system provided practical insights for beekeepers and farmers, and assisted them to optimize production methods and could potentially increase overall yield. By using BeeHero’s technology, we aim to increase seed yield and reduce yield volatility through remote monitoring of pollination activity.”
According to Gabai, “As part of the Limagrain Group, we promote innovative agricultural methods worldwide and implement them within the group. The collaboration with BeeHero represents a significant step forward in improving bee health, pollination efficiency, and advancing agricultural innovation.”
Hardness and skin firmness in onions crucial for retail, especially during shortages
Posted on Apr 25, 2024
In a year of challenging growing conditions, the quality of onions is an important concern for growers, processors, and breeders.Lindert Moerdijk, Sales Director at MSP Onions, and André Boot, Senior Onion Specialist at Hazera, focus on hardness and skin firmness, whilst emphasizing the importance of collaboration. “Those aiming to deliver quality must look ahead.”
“We faced a late sowing, followed by a hot summer with sunburn issues and a harvest with weather conditions that negatively impacted the internal quality of the onions”, André sums up the past year. “As a result, nearly every batch of onions has internal rot,” Lindert adds. “But our biggest challenge is internal sprouting. Due to the dry summer, conditions for MH spraying weren’t ideal, resulting in sprouting.”
“The times in which we viewed onions as a conventional arable crop are over. You must treat them as horticultural crops, directly catering to their needs. This way, you strive to create ideal conditions and thereby achieve consistent growth”, Lindert says. However, he acknowledges that growers can’t solve everything. “Solving internal sprouting requires substantial investments. Then the question arises: what do we expect from the climate in the next 10 years, how does this affect growing conditions, and can we anticipate it?”
Investing in quality
With their optical sorting machine, MSP Onions proves that forward-thinking pays off in the mutable onion industry. “By investing early on, we are now one of the few processors with an optical sorter that can be programmed for quality. This enables us to process almost every batch and deliver the right hardness and skin firmness,” Lindert explains. He sees this position being reflected in the demand. “We must work nights to meet demand. The decreasing quality of onions across Europe is evident from the fact that we’ve been supplying to other European countries since November. That’s unusually early. This also presents opportunities for Dutch growers.”
MSP’s optical sorting machine enables them to deliver the right hardness and skin firmness
Hard and firm
“In the current market, even with overcapacity, shortages exist for onions that meet the highest quality standards,” Lindert continues. “So, these quality standards are crucial for us. In Hazera’s onion varieties, we can see they share that focus.” André confirms this. “Especially in the lighter sandy soils, where onion cultivation has expanded in recent years. Varieties like Vento, Dormo, and Centro perform well there. In that soil, you need onions that naturally grow more slowly to stay firm.”
Skin firmness is a significant theme for both Hazera and MSP as well. “Our varieties are characterized by a nice round shape and high storage efficiency,” André explains. “It’s important for the grower that the onions maintain the same quality later in the season. If they grow too fast, you’ll encounter baldness later on. That’s not an issue with our varieties.” MSP’s processing also focuses on maintaining skin firmness. “In our process, product friendliness takes precedence over quantity. No bulk, but rather fewer onions that are genuinely good,” says Lindert. “Especially now that the quality of onions coming from the fields is under pressure, caution is necessary.”
Dormo, under the right conditions, the firmest onion with the best skin retention in the Rijnsburger range.
A stronger future together
According to Lindert, the strength of the collaboration between MSP Onions and Hazera lies in their shared ambition. “We both want to continuously elevate the Dutch onion to a higher level. We also have a joint responsibility to advise growers as well as possible. The knowledge Hazera shares with us about onion varieties is invaluable from MSP’s perspective.” André adds, “We want to advise growers, especially in new cultivation areas, on where they can go for high-quality processing. Collaborating closely with processors and sharing knowledge are crucial in this.”
Yesterday at the Dutch ‘Themadag UI’ in Dronten, grower Jan Pieter Smid from Zeewolde won the first price for the ‘Best Storage Onion of 2023’ with our variety Dormo! We would like to take this oppurtinity to congratule Jan Pieter with his victory. Dormo is one of our bestselling Onion varieties. It’s is the firmest onion with the best skin on the independent varieties list Semi-late variety, suitable for very long-term storage. Under the right conditions, the firmest onion with the best skin retention in the Rijnsburg range. The high-quality onion for export. Generally the highest scoring net yield onion.
Want to know more information? Please contact our Cropspecialist, they are happy to support!
Fresh from the field: Three key trends in crop farming
Posted on Nov 08, 2022
Humans have been farming crops for millennia – but the goal remains the same: to feed people. Of course, farming practices have advanced dramatically in the past few centuries, and global pressures continue to drive rapid change in the industry. Reinout de Heer, Portfolio Marketing Director Allium & Crucifers, explores three key trends shaping crop farming and discusses how Hazera’s expertise is paving the way for a more sustainable industry future.
1. Mechanization momentum
Higher labor costs and decreasing labor availability are leading many farmers to consider mechanical harvesting and other new technologies. We’re seeing mechanization trends take hold in places like the Netherlands, the UK, and California, in relation to a wide range of produce. However, with crops such as onions, it’s clear that hand-harvesting means a higher quality product with less damage.This is what makes research into developing new varieties so important. At Hazera, we’re working to test new crop varieties to ensure farmers can invest in the technologies they need, knowing their harvest won’t suffer.
2. Chemical control compliance
With tightening environmental regulation, many growers are looking for alternatives to traditional pesticides and fungicides. Biostimulants are a popular option for Hazera’s customers, being applied to seeds to make plants stronger and more resistant to disease. Product quality can also be boosted through seed pelleting, which creates more rounded seeds, and priming, which means up to five days’ less germination time in the field.
3. Local logic
Harvested crops have long been shipped around the world; however, increases in container transport costs are putting pressure on global food systems. Environmental awareness is meanwhile on the rise, as ‘buy local’ or ‘eat seasonal’ become important consumer trends. At Hazera, we help farmers achieve year-round production with varieties that have good storability and shelf-life properties. Developments in leeks, for instance, which traditionally deteriorate quickly once harvested, are making a big difference. More flexible crop varieties can help customers reduce transport costs, carbon emissions, and food waste, all at once.
Support from the ground up
Around the world, Hazera works in close cooperation with farmers of all kinds of crops to respond effectively to emerging trends. Through trials and other research, we address the industry’s most pressing challenges and develop seed solutions to help agriculturalists – and their plants – thrive.
Want to learn more? Contact us today to see how we can support you.
The Netherlands is one of the most important export countries for onions.Quality is therefore becoming increasingly important.For you as a grower, a high-quality onion is a flexible onion.It ensures that you can decide for yourself how long you keep and when you sell.
Our crop specialist Andre Boot is happy to tell you more about it.
Primed seeds: the next step in top quality onion growing
Posted on Jan 20, 2022
Hazera has been developing and selling primed onion seeds since 2009. This experience translates into the market as the share of primed seeds is increasing. Many growers are discovering the benefits. Primed seeds can ensure faster crop development after sowing, more uniformity in the crop and final product and better quality onions. That is why it is also interesting for you.
High quality and high yield, the golden combination for Hazera onions
Posted on Nov 13, 2021
Hazera, part of Limagrain Group, is a specialist in the development, production and marketing of onion seed. The breeders have been working on strong varieties of excellent quality since the 1950s. The distribution of new, improved onion varieties is a slow process that can sometimes take more than 25 years. It is therefore important to have a good vision of what the market needs. What are the trends?
What Plant Viruses Can Teach Us About Human Viruses – COVID-19. Over the years, Hazera has acquired knowledge and practices to fight potential pests and viruses that threaten the yields and the quality of our products.
Globalization has driven the worldwide spread of biological material, and with it infectious plant diseases. For most plant viruses, there’s no cure – only prevention. Many of the measures used to fight human viruses, like COVID-19, are also effective against plant viruses. Effective disease management starts with knowing your pest, and then applying reliable and professional detection methods to catch diseases early. This includes employing a robust methodology for sampling and monitoring the affected plant population.
MDM: A key preventative approach
However, the most effective strategy is always avoidance or prevention through proper hygiene. This means taking steps to prevent the virus from spreading via contact with surfaces, clothing, tools – and even smartphones. At Hazera, we advise taking the following preventative approach, known as MDM: Measures – use of disinfectants, gloves, coats, masks, coveralls and additional protective steps Discipline – everyone follows the guidelines and instructions strictly and precisely Management – the process is led by professionals backed by the full commitment of the top administrative level
The MDM strategy depends on the firm commitment of all those involved. Just one person not complying can be enough to cause an outbreak or the secondary spread of a disease.
Hazera’s experts are happy to provide more information on preventing viruses and diseases in your crop. Do not hesitate to contact us.
