History

MayFord Seeds (Pty) Ltd grew out of C. May & Co. which was founded in 1931.  This makes MayFord Seeds one of the oldest vegetable seed companies in South Africa.  As a four generation family business the company developed a diverse portfolio including seed production, hobby packet seed, professional vegetable, turf and flower seed, vegetable breeding programs and specialised products for the home garden industry.

In the late 1960’s MayFord became the sole distributor of Sakata’s products in Southern Africa.

1973 saw the introduction of the revolutionary hermetically sealed hobby packets which built the MayFord brand to be synonymous with high quality seed in Southern Africa.

A decade later, MayFord’s highly sophisticated seed laboratory was officially recognised as a government approved testing station.

In the middle of the 80’s the company transformed its distribution business and now distributes mainly through exclusive companies in South, Southern, Central and East Africa.

In December 1999, the Sakata Seed Corporation of Yokohama, Japan, acquired MayFord Seeds.  Sakata’s founder, Takeo Sakata established Sakata Noen in 1913, producing seed on a commercial market in Japan.  Sakata is currently one of the largest seed groups in the world with extensive global research programs in vegetable and flower seed.

On 1 April 2008 MayFord Seeds changed their name to Sakata Seed Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd, and uses the MayFord brand for its hobby and turf business.

Within the past 10 years Sakata Southern Africa has grown into one of the largest vegetable seed producers in the region.  Supported by the global Sakata production team, Sakata Southern Africa has developed a reputation for taking a scientific and responsible approach to production research.  South Africa’s climatic conditions make it ideal for Sakata to produce top quality carrot, onion, bunching onion and beetroot seed for the global Sakata group.

Sakata has established itself as a reliable supplier of quality seeds, through a focus on product development and technical support excellence in the field.  Through specialised product management Sakata ensures that they can continuously provide the consumer with the best product quality, consistency, diversity and nutritional value.

Sakata Seed Southern Africa is certified according to the ISO 9001 Quality Management System, assuring our customers of the best possible products and service.