What SESVanderHave does

SESVanderHave is a Belgian-headquartered sugar beet seed company operating as one of four commercial brands under United Beet Seeds (UBS), the joint venture formed in September 2024 between Groupe Florimond Desprez and DLF Seeds A/S. Founded as a brand in 2005 from the merger of SES and VanderHave sugar beet seed activities, the company traces its lineage to 1879 (VanderHave) and 1948 (S.B.G.B.), and operates from Tienen, Belgium — Belgium's 'sugar capital' — with additional seed processing factories in Kyiv, Ukraine and Calignac, France. It serves sugar beet growers and sugar processors across more than 50 countries with a portfolio that pairs country-tailored varieties with trait packages including rhizomania (RIZOR, since the early 1980s), ALS-tolerance via CONVISO® SMART (registered in Europe in 2020 with Bayer CropScience), cercospora tolerance (CERCOTECH®), SBR tolerance (registered in Germany in 2021), and Tropical Beet varieties for non-temperate climates.

Its technology and product architecture rests on a vertically integrated pipeline: variety development concentrated at the United Beet Innovation Centre (UBIC) in Tienen — a 13,000+ sqm glasshouse and 2,000 sqm laboratory complex where 12,000+ new genotypes are tested and 1 million new plants are sown annually — followed by seed processing consisting of cleaning, priming (pre-germination technology yielding up to 3% additional yield), pelleting to standardized round form, fungicide/insecticide coating, and the company's iconic blue color for in-field plantability and visual sowing control. The R&D pipeline increasingly incorporates predictive breeding models that combine full-genome DNA analysis with phenotype records and hyperspectral drone imagery (via the MAPEO platform with VITO) to accelerate selection decisions.

The business model is a single revenue stream — one-time sales of processed sugar beet seed, sold in units of 100,000 seeds, distributed via a direct enterprise field-sales motion: international sales teams and local representatives provide regional variety advice in 30+ countries, with country-specific websites supporting awareness and lead capture. The company employs 650+ people, holds ESTA seed-treatment certification from Euroseeds, and reports to be GDPR-compliant. SESVanderHave does not disclose revenue or funding and is part of the private UBS joint venture.

Name

SESVanderHave

Legal name

SESVANDERHAVE NV/SA

Website

https://sesvanderhave.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

SESVanderHave is a Belgian-headquartered sugar beet seed company and brand within United Beet Seeds, breeding, priming, pelleting, and coating sugar beet varieties with disease and herbicide-tolerance traits for growers across 50+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sugar Beet Seeds

NAICS

Sugar Beet Farming (111991)

SIC

Agricultural Production-Crops (100)

akta.pro primary industry

Sugar Beet Farming (AFAGAEAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Beet Sugar (Raw & Refined) (AFAJAAAB)

Keywords

• Sugar beet seed
• Seed breeding
• Seed processing
• Crop genetics
• Agricultural seed

Headquarters

HQ city

Tienen

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Sugar Beet Seed Sales: Sale of processed sugar beet seeds including primed, pelleted, and coated blue seeds. Seeds are sold in units of 100,000 seeds each, with each variety developed for specific regional markets and climate conditions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

SESVanderHave is a global sugar beet seed brand that develops, breeds, and commercializes processed sugar beet seeds for commercial growers and the sugar industry. The company covers every step from genetic research and variety development through seed processing (cleaning, priming, pelleting, coating) to worldwide distribution of sugar beet seed varieties tailored to specific regional, climatic, and disease pressures.

Product overview

SESVanderHave is a leading global sugar beet seed brand specializing exclusively in sugar beet seed production. The company operates as one of the commercial brands under United Beet Seeds (UBS) and covers every aspect from breeding new varieties to delivering processed blue seeds. The core product portfolio includes diverse sugar beet varieties with specific genetic traits (rhizomania, nematode, cercospora, virus yellows, SBR, rhizoctonia resistance/tolerance), enhanced by technology systems like CONVISO® SMART (ALS-tolerant varieties paired with Bayer herbicide) and CERCOTECH® (cercospora-tolerant varieties). SESVanderHave also offers Tropical Beet varieties for extreme climates and provides primed, coated blue pellet seeds. All R&D activities are centralized at the United Beet Innovation Centre (UBIC), a 13,000+ sqm facility with climate-controlled research capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CONVISO® SMART: ALS-inhibitor tolerant sugar beet varieties marketed under the CONVISO® SMART technology brand, tolerant to Bayer's CONVISO® ONE herbicide.
• CERCOTECH®
• Tropical beet

Products and services

• CONVISO® SMART An innovative weed control system combining ALS-inhibitor tolerant sugar beet varieties with Bayer's CONVISO® ONE herbicide, enabling effective and simplified weed management for sugar beet growers.
• CERCOTECH® A new generation of cercospora-tolerant sugar beet varieties combining strong Cercospora leaf spot tolerance with high sugar yield to help preserve yield under medium-to-strong disease pressure.
• Tropical Beet Sugar beet varieties particularly resistant to extreme conditions including drought, high temperatures, heavy rainfall, and exotic diseases, designed for non-temperate climates such as deserts and high-altitude plateaus.
• Sugar Beet Varieties Portfolio Extensive portfolio of sugar beet varieties sold in over 50 countries worldwide, each developed for the needs of individual markets. Includes varieties with resistance or tolerance to rhizomania, nematodes, cercospora, virus yellows, SBR, rhizoctonia, and other agronomic challenges.
• Primed Seeds Pre-germinated sugar beet seeds ensuring faster and more homogeneous field germination, including under extreme cold or drought. The majority of SESVanderHave seeds are primed, offering up to 3% higher yield and more uniform crop emergence.
• Coated Seeds (Blue Pellets) Standardized round pelleted seeds coated with fungicides and insecticides and finished with the company's iconic blue colour to help farmers check planting depth and seed spacing.
• SBR Tolerant Varieties First SBR tolerant sugar beet varieties providing genetic resistance to Syndrome 'Basses Richesses', a disease transmitted by the Pentastiridius leporinus insect that significantly lowers sugar content.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 3% yield increase from primed seeds
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• United Beet Seeds (UBS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 September 2024In September 2024, United Beet Seeds was founded as a joint venture between Groupe Florimond Desprez and DLF Seeds A/S, specializing in all aspects of sugar beet seed research, production, processing, and commercialisation. UBS includes the leading root crop brands SESVANDERHAVE, MARIBO, HILLESHÖG, and KUHN. All key activities including variety selection and breeding, registration, and sales are now managed under the UBS umbrella.
• Bayer CropSciencecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Partnership for the CONVISO® SMART system where SESVanderHave's ALS-tolerant sugar beet varieties are treated with Bayer's CONVISO® ONE herbicide for effective weed control. First varieties registered in Europe in 2020.
• VITO Remote SensingcoreTechnology or IntegrationCollaboration on drone-based phenotyping using hyperspectral drone imagery combined with innovative remote sensing technology for crop phenotyping in sugar beet breeding trials. VITO created the MAPEO platform for high-throughput phenotyping.
• CRA-w (Centre de Recherche en Sciences et Technologies Agronomiques de Walonnie)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner in the BeetPhen project, working with SESVanderHave and VITO on hyperspectral drone imagery for disease-resistant crop variety development.
• Biometris (University of Wageningen spin-off)supportingTechnology or IntegrationCollaborative partner in the 'Sense of Field' project, working on automated plant count and gap identification using drone imagery to support seed breeding trials.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• KWS SAAT SE: KWS is one of the world's largest sugar beet seed companies and SESVanderHave's most direct global competitor. Both companies breed, produce, and sell sugar beet varieties to farmers and sugar processors across Europe and other key beet-growing regions, competing head-to-head on yield, disease resistance traits, and herbicide tolerance systems.
• Betaseed (historical KWS subsidiary): Betaseed was a North American-focused sugar beet seed brand historically associated with KWS, directly competing with SESVanderHave's international expansion into the US and other non-European markets. It remains a relevant comparable for the sugar beet seed competitive landscape in North America.
• Groupe Florimond Desprez: Florimond Desprez is the French family-owned seed group that previously owned SESVanderHave outright (since 2005) and is now a 50% JV partner in United Beet Seeds. It is both a parent/partner and a competitor in sugar beet and fodder beet seed markets, with overlapping breeding programs and shared R&D infrastructure.
• Strube Research GmbH & Co. KG: Strube is a European sugar beet seed breeder and producer, directly competing with SESVanderHave on sugar beet variety portfolios for European farmers. The company focuses on similar customer segments — sugar beet growers and processors — with comparable breeding and seed processing capabilities.
• MariboHilleshög: MariboHilleshög is a sugar beet seed brand now operating under the same United Beet Seeds umbrella as SESVanderHave, having previously been direct competitors. The historical overlap in portfolio, geography, and customer base makes it the closest product-level peer, now a sister brand rather than a pure external competitor.

Emerging players

• Vilmorin & Cie (Limagrain): Vilmorin, the seed division of French cooperative Limagrain, is a global field and vegetable seed player with some sugar beet variety offerings in European markets. As an emerging player in sugar beet relative to leaders like KWS and SESVanderHave, it represents a credible adjacent competitor worth tracking.
• DLF Seeds A/S: DLF is a global seed company focused primarily on forage and turf grasses that entered sugar beet seeds via the UBS JV. While historically less prominent in sugar beet than SESVanderHave, DLF brings complementary fodder beet and industrial chicory capabilities to the combined UBS platform.

Broad incumbents

• Syngenta Group: Syngenta is a global seed and crop protection major with a sugar beet seed portfolio. As a broad incumbent, it competes across multiple geographies and benefits from bundled offerings across seeds, crop protection, and digital agriculture — comparable to SESVanderHave on the seed side but with significantly broader product breadth.
• Bayer CropScience (DEKALB): Bayer is a global agriscience major whose DEKALB brand competes with SESVanderHave in sugar beet seeds and is the partner behind the CONVISO® SMART herbicide system used with SESVanderHave's ALS-tolerant varieties. While not exclusively focused on sugar beet, Bayer's crop protection bundle and global distribution make it a formidable incumbent competitor.
• Corteva Agriscience: Corteva (parent of Pioneer) is a global seed and crop protection company with sugar beet seed offerings in select markets. As a broad incumbent with deep R&D resources and a wide crop portfolio, Corteva competes with SESVanderHave on premium variety traits and has the scale to pressure pricing across multiple geographies.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sesvanderhave
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/SESVANDERHAVEonline
• Facebookfacebook.com/SESVanderHave
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sesvanderhave

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SESVanderHave