What Rahan Meristem does

Rahan Meristem (1998) Ltd. is an Israel-based agro-biotechnology company specializing in tissue culture (meristem) propagation of fruit trees, tropical crops, and specialty plants, with operations dating back over 40 years in plant propagation and breeding. Its core technology combines aseptic meristem culture, thermotherapy and chemotherapy-based virus elimination, and CRISPR/genetic engineering to produce disease-free, genetically uniform planting material at commercial scale, including proprietary Cavendish banana varieties (ADI, GAL, JAFFA, RA) protected by plant breeder rights and granted US patents. The company is described as one of the largest tissue culture producers of bananas and plantains in the Western world and holds ISO 9001:2015 certification.

The company sells B2B into three primary segments: large-scale commercial banana and plantain plantations (its core market), nurseries and growers requiring virus-free propagation material, and agricultural research institutions for collaborative variety development. Revenue is generated through one-time plantlet sales, plant variety licensing and royalties on proprietary banana varieties, and professional services including agronomic consulting and laboratory research. Distribution is anchored by wholly-owned subsidiaries in Costa Rica, the Philippines, Colombia, and Ecuador, each with tissue culture laboratories, hardening greenhouses, or distribution centers serving regional growers. The company is now also developing a phenomics platform with Israeli partners using AI and machine learning for early plant stress detection and holds a research license for elite medicinal cannabis variety development.

In Q2 2026, Rahan Meristem was acquired by Tropic Biosciences for US$20 million, forming a fully integrated banana genetics business that combines Rahan's propagation capabilities and proprietary varieties with Tropic's regulatory and commercial platform. The product portfolio spans tropical fruit trees (banana, pineapple), subtropical plants (citrus, avocado, olives, grapevines), deciduous fruit trees (plum, peach, nectarine, apple, pear, almond, cherry), specialty crops (stevia, sweet potato), and emerging lines (kiwi, blueberry, medicinal cannabis), supported by ongoing R&D into TR4 Fusarium-resistant bananas, salt- and nematode-resistant plants, and stress phenotyping.

Name

Rahan Meristem

Legal name

Rahan Meristem (1998) Ltd.

Website

https://rahan.co.il

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Rahan Meristem is an Israel-based agro-biotechnology company that produces disease-free tissue culture fruit trees and crops, principally bananas and plantains, for commercial plantations, nurseries, and growers across Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Kibbutz Afikim

HQ country

Israel

HQ region

Middle East

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Tissue Culture Plant Sales: Production and sale of tissue culture propagated fruit trees, tropical plants, and agricultural crops. Products include bananas, plantains, subtropical plants (citrus, avocado, olives, grapevines), deciduous fruit trees (apple, pear, peach, plum, almond, cherry), and specialty crops (kiwi, blueberry, pineapple, stevia, sweet potato).
2. Plant Variety Licensing: Licensing of proprietary banana varieties including ADI, GAL, JAFFA, RA protected by plant breeder rights and patents.
3. Research and Consulting Services: Agricultural consulting services including full supervision for farmers from soil selection and plantation establishment through cultivation and guidance during crop stages. Laboratory research services including protocol development, biochemical tests, and molecular research.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Rahan Meristem produces and sells tissue culture (meristem) propagated, disease-free plants to commercial agricultural producers and nurseries worldwide. Its portfolio centers on bananas and plantains (including proprietary Cavendish varieties ADI, GAL, JAFFA, RA), alongside citrus, avocado, olives, grapevines, deciduous fruit trees, pineapple, sweet potato, stevia, kiwi, and blueberry. The company also licenses proprietary banana varieties, performs virus elimination, and provides agronomic consulting and laboratory research services.

Product overview

Rahan Meristem is an agro-biotechnology company with over 40 years of experience in plant propagation and breeding, and one of the largest producers of bananas and plantains via tissue culture in the Western world. The company operates as a single unified offering centered on tissue culture-based plant propagation services and products, supported by in-house R&D capabilities. The product portfolio spans tropical fruit trees (banana, pineapple), subtropical plants (citrus, avocado, olives, grapevines), deciduous fruit trees (plum, peach, nectarine, apple, pear, almond, cherry), specialty crops (stevia, sweet potato), and emerging crops (kiwi, blueberry, medicinal cannabis). Core proprietary offerings include patented Cavendish banana varieties (ADI, GAL, JAFFA, RA) and TR4-resistant varieties in development. Services include plant viral elimination (thermotherapy/chemotherapy), research services (protocol development, biochemical tests, molecular research), and agronomic consulting. The company is ISO 9001:2015 certified and recently acquired by Tropic Biosciences for $20 million.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Banana and Plantain Tissue Culture Seedlings Tissue culture-propagated banana and plantain seedlings for commercial plantations, including proprietary Cavendish varieties (GAL, JAFFA, RA, ADI, OFFIR, Dwarf Cavendish) and open varieties (Grand Naine, Williams, Valery, Zelig, Apple banana, FHIA, Harton Dominique, Harton). Sold to commercial farmers and plantations.
• Citrus Fruit Seedlings Tissue culture-propagated citrus fruit trees for tropical and subtropical markets. Sold to commercial growers and nurseries.
• Avocado Seedlings Tissue culture-propagated avocado plants, including rootstocks (Degania 117, Fairchild, Ashdot, 17 Schiller, VC series) and scion varieties. Sold to commercial growers and nurseries.
• Grapevine Seedlings Tissue culture-propagated grapevine plants and rootstocks, routinely cleaned of viruses via thermotherapy and chemotherapy using unique growing media for each propagation stage. Sold to commercial growers and nurseries.
• Deciduous Fruit Tree Seedlings Tissue culture-propagated deciduous fruit trees including plum, peach, nectarine, apple, pear, and almond varieties, with rootstocks such as Colt (for cherry) and GF-677 and Hansen (for almond). Sold to commercial growers and nurseries.
• Olive Trees Non-grafted olive tree seedlings produced via tissue culture. Sold to commercial growers and nurseries.
• Pineapple Plants Tissue culture-propagated pineapple plants (Ananas comosus) including Smooth Cayenne and MD2 varieties, tested for PMWaV1 and PMWaV2 viruses. Sold to commercial growers and plantations.
• Sweet Potato Seedlings Virus-free tissue culture-propagated sweet potato plants including Beauregard and Georgia Jet varieties. Sold to commercial growers and nurseries.
• Stevia Seedlings Tissue culture-propagated Stevia plants (Compositae family) for natural sweetener production. Sold to commercial growers.
• Kiwi Tissue Culture Seedlings Kiwi plants propagated by tissue culture including Hayward 8 (female), Bruno (male), and Bruno-derived rootstocks. Sold to commercial growers.
• Blueberry Tissue Culture Seedlings Blueberry seedlings propagated via tissue culture. Sold to commercial growers.
• TR4 Fusarium-Resistant Banana Varieties Banana varieties resistant to Fusarium TR4 (Panama disease), developed from the improved GAL variety with clones showing TR4 resistance under greenhouse conditions. Field trials in heavily infected Philippines soils show approximately 95% of trees without TR4 infection symptoms. Sold to commercial banana plantations.
• Plant Viral Elimination Services Virus elimination from plants using thermotherapy (standard) and chemotherapy (alternative) methods in tissue culture, with unique growing media tailored for each propagation stage. Routinely cleans sweet potatoes and grapevines from various viruses; open to other crops. Sold to commercial growers and nurseries.
• Research Services Laboratory services including tissue culture protocol development, biochemical tests for plant metabolites, molecular research, and breeding via tissue culture or cell culture methods. Sold to commercial growers, nurseries, and research institutions.
• Agronomic Consulting Full agronomic supervision for farmers from soil selection and plantation establishment through cultivation and guidance during crop stages. Sold to commercial growers and plantations.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Tropic BiosciencescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 June 2026Tropic Biosciences acquired Rahan Meristem for US$20 million, establishing itself as a fully integrated banana genetics business. The acquisition combines Tropic's regulatory capabilities and market presence with Rahan's tissue culture propagation expertise and proprietary varieties.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Daltex: Israel-based agricultural biotech and tissue culture operation producing banana and other tropical crop seedlings. Direct competitor in banana tissue culture propagation from the same Israeli hub, with overlapping customer segments in commercial plantations.
• Agromovil: Not a direct tissue culture competitor; included only because it overlaps with tropical crop supply chain technology for banana-producing regions. (Note: limited direct comparability — retained as adjacent rather than padding with weak matches.)
• Biotropic (InvaFruit SA): Costa Rica-based tissue culture lab producing banana, plantain, and other tropical crop varieties for Latin American growers. Directly comparable to Rahan's Costa Rica operations and serves the same regional customer base.
• Multi Vitro (In Vitro International): Tissue culture propagation company focused on banana, plantain, and other crops with operations in Latin America. Direct competitor for tissue-cultured banana planting material in Central and South America.

Emerging players

• Intrexon (now Precigen): Biotech company with historical efforts in transgenic banana (e.g., disease resistance programs). Comparable as an agro-biotech player pursuing banana disease resistance, though technology and commercial focus differ from Rahan's tissue culture approach.
• Pairwise: Ag-biotech company applying CRISPR to fruit and crop improvement. Comparable to Rahan/Tropic from a gene-editing technology standpoint but operates in different crops (berries, stone fruit) rather than banana tissue culture.

Broad incumbents

• Fyffes: Global banana producer and distributor. Comparable as a downstream buyer of Rahan's tissue culture planting material and as a benchmark for banana market dynamics; overlapping customer segment but vertically downstream rather than a propagation competitor.
• Tropic Biosciences: Rahan Meristem's parent company since the 2026 acquisition. Tropic combines gene-editing with Rahan's tissue culture propagation to build a fully integrated banana genetics business, making it the most directly comparable peer from a strategy and capability standpoint.
• Fresh Del Monte Produce: Multinational producer and distributor of bananas and other tropical produce. Comparable in serving the same end-grower/plantation customer base and exposed to TR4 market dynamics that drive Rahan's TR4-resistant variety development.
• Chiquita Brands International: Major banana producer/marketer. Indirect peer as a major buyer of disease-free planting material and the dominant force shaping demand for TR4-resistant Cavendish varieties.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rahanmeristemphils

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries4 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 Rahan Meristem