California Berry Cultivars

What California Berry Cultivars does

California Berry Cultivars (CBC) is an independent strawberry breeding company founded in 2014 and headquartered in French Camp, California. It develops and licenses premium short-day and day-neutral strawberry cultivars for commercial growers worldwide, with a portfolio of 12+ commercialized varieties developed through collaborative industry research and validated via multi-site field trials. The company operates four locations supporting breeding, pathogen screening, and grower partnership programs.

Its core technology is conventional strawberry breeding combined with a CDFA-certified Cleanstock Program that supplies virus-free foundation planting material to licensed nurseries. Supporting infrastructure includes the Cultivar Explorer online platform for variety discovery and a free Strawberry Market Intelligence dashboard distributing USDA volume, FOB pricing, weather, and retail data on a thrice-weekly cadence. Disease and field testing protocols are run across multiple sites to validate cultivar performance before commercial release.

Revenue is generated primarily through cultivar licensing royalties on plant sales and production rights, supplemented by sublicensing arrangements with authorized propagators and direct Cleanstock foundation-stock sales to nurseries. The go-to-market is sales-led, using direct licensing agreements with commercial growers alongside a global network of licensed nurseries that propagate and distribute CBC varieties. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is negotiated on a case-by-case basis.

Name

California Berry Cultivars

Legal name

California Berry Cultivars, LLC

Website

https://caberrycultivars.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

California Berry Cultivars is an independent strawberry breeding company that develops and licenses premium short-day and day-neutral cultivars to commercial growers worldwide through direct licensing and a licensed nursery network, supported by a CDFA-certified Cleanstock Program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Plant Breeding and Agricultural Genetics

NAICS

Strawberry Farming (111333)

SIC

Agricultural Production-Crops (100)

akta.pro primary industry

Plant Breeding & Variety Development (Conventional) (AFAGAIAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Berry Farming (Strawberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Cranberries) (AFAGACAD), Greenhouse Fruit & Berry Production (Strawberries, Specialty Fruits) (AFAGAHAB)

Keywords

• Strawberry breeding
• Cultivar development
• Plant licensing
• Agricultural biotechnology
• Fruit variety development

Headquarters

HQ city

French Camp

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Cultivar Licensing: The company licenses proprietary strawberry cultivars to commercial growers worldwide, generating recurring royalty revenue from plant sales and production rights.
2. Cleanstock Program: Supply of CDFA-certified virus-free foundation strawberry plants to nurseries for propagation and distribution.
3. Sublicensing: Sub-licensing arrangements allowing authorized parties to propagate and distribute licensed cultivars under specified terms.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

California Berry Cultivars is an independent strawberry breeding company that develops premium short-day and day-neutral strawberry cultivars for commercial growers worldwide. The company licenses proprietary varieties, supplies CDFA-certified virus-free foundation stock through its Cleanstock Program, and conducts multi-site disease and field testing to validate cultivar performance.

Product overview

California Berry Cultivars is an independent strawberry breeding company founded in 2014, operating as a single unified product portfolio centered on developing and delivering superior strawberry cultivars to commercial growers worldwide. The core offering consists of the Cultivar Explorer platform (an online cultivar discovery and exploration tool), combined with cultivar development services (premium short-day and day-neutral varieties), disease and field testing, the Cleanstock Program (CDFA-certified virus-free foundation stock), grower partnership programs with on-farm trials and licensing, and Strawberry Market Intelligence dashboards providing USDA market data. The company has developed 12+ cultivars and operates across 4 locations, serving growers worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cultivar Explorer: Online platform for exploring and discovering strawberry cultivars at cultivars.cbcberry.com

Products and services

• Cultivar Explorer An online platform for exploring and discovering strawberry cultivars, allowing commercial growers to browse and evaluate premium short-day and day-neutral varieties for their operations.
• Cultivar Development Premium short-day and day-neutral strawberry varieties developed through the company's breeding program for superior fruit quality, high yield, and disease resistance, licensed to commercial growers.
• Cleanstock Program CDFA-certified virus-free foundation stock program providing disease-free planting material to licensed nurseries for propagation and distribution to commercial strawberry growers.
• Grower Partnerships On-farm trials and licensing programs enabling commercial growers to test CBC cultivars in their own operations with real-world performance validation prior to commercial licensing.
• Strawberry Market Intelligence

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Sakata Seed: Sakata Seed is a global plant breeding and seed company active in multiple specialty crops including strawberry. Comparable as a broader horticultural breeder operating a licensing/distribution model, though strawberry is not its primary focus.
• Driscoll's: Driscoll's is the world's largest berry marketer with an internal proprietary strawberry (and other berry) breeding program supplying its exclusive grower network. They are the dominant incumbent in California strawberry genetics and a benchmark for what CBC's independent breeder model competes against.
• Rijk Zwaan: Rijk Zwaan is a Dutch vegetable and fruit seed company with breeding programs covering several crops including strawberry. Comparable as a large, R&D-intensive plant breeder that licenses protected varieties through a global distributor network.
• Enza Zaden: Enza Zaden is a global vegetable and fruit breeding company with active strawberry breeding programs in Europe. Comparable as an established international breeder using a licensing model to commercialize proprietary varieties to growers.

Others

• Wish Farms: Wish Farms is a major U.S. strawberry grower-marketer that purchases licensed varieties from multiple breeders including CBC. While not a direct competitor (they grow and market rather than breed), Wish Farms is a key customer segment and a useful proxy for understanding demand and royalty dynamics in the strawberry licensing market.

Direct peers

• Berry Genetics Inc. Berry Genetics is an independent strawberry breeding company developing and licensing proprietary cultivars to growers worldwide. Direct overlap in strawberry-specific breeding and licensing, with a comparable independent-breeder go-to-market approach.
• Eurosemillas: Eurosemillas is a Spanish seed and plant-breeding company that holds exclusive global licensing rights for several UC Davis-developed strawberry cultivars. It is one of the most direct comparables for CBC, competing in licensing premium strawberry genetics to growers in multiple geographies.
• Plant Sciences Inc. Plant Sciences Inc. is an independent berry and grape breeding company that develops and licenses proprietary cultivars to commercial growers, including a significant strawberry portfolio. Its business model — independent breeder licensing premium varieties — closely mirrors CBC's core offering.

Regional players

• Florida Foundation Seed Producers (Strawberry Varieties): FFSP licenses University of Florida-bred strawberry varieties (e.g., the 'Florida Radiance' and Sensation series) for Florida and Southeastern growers. It is the closest regional competitor in the Eastern U.S. strawberry market and competes with CBC for cultivar shelf space at licensed nurseries.

Emerging players

• UC Davis Strawberry Breeding Program: The public UC Davis strawberry breeding program is the historical source of many commercial California varieties and a foundational competitor. While publicly funded rather than commercial, its cultivar releases and licensing pipeline directly compete with CBC's grower offering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/cbcberry
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/california-berry-cultivars-llc

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 California Berry Cultivars