What Irish Seed Savers does

Irish Seed Savers Association CLG is an Irish nonprofit conservation organization founded in 1991 by Anita Hayes and headquartered on a 20-acre organic farm at Capparoe, Scarriff, County Clare. The organization maintains Ireland's only national living seed bank, preserving more than 1,160 heritage, open-pollinated vegetable varieties, and Ireland's only National Heritage Apple Tree Collection, conserving over 200 unique Irish apple varieties grafted from heritage scion wood. Its activities span conservation, protection, utilization, and education — operating a Seed Guardian network of more than 3,500 community growers who multiply rare varieties across Irish microclimates, harvesting approximately 8,000 bare-root trees annually for community planting.

The business model blends commercial and charitable revenue streams: e-commerce sales of 166 organic heirloom seed SKUs and 111+ heritage apple tree SKUs through irishseedsavers.ie; on-site retail, guided tours (from €15/person), and workshops on seed saving, grafting, cider making, and polytunnel management; a Supporter Membership programme offering exclusive seeds and discounts; and donations (one-off and monthly). Funding also flows from Irish government bodies — the Department of Agriculture Food and Marine, the Department of Rural and Community Development, Pobal, The Heritage Council, and (as of December 2025) the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Customer segments span home gardeners, schools and educational institutions, community groups, farmers and growers, and Seed Guardians. Recent strategic moves include hosting the 12th European Forum of EC-LLD (2023), expanding into plums/damsons/gages/pears, and research collaborations with the University of Limerick and Canvas Brewery.

Name

Irish Seed Savers

Legal name

Irish Seed Savers Association CLG

Website

https://irishseedsavers.ie

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Irish Seed Savers Association CLG is an Irish nonprofit founded in 1991 that conserves 1,160+ heritage vegetable varieties and 200+ Irish heritage apple varieties on a 20-acre site in County Clare, serving home gardeners, schools, community groups, and farmers via seed/tree sales, tours, workshops, and a 3,500+ member Seed Guardian network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Heritage Seed & Tree Conservation

NAICS

Forest Nurseries and Gathering of Forest Products (113210), Forest Nurseries and Gathering of Forest Products (11321), Nursery and Tree Production (111421), Forest Nurseries and Gathering of Forest Products (1132), Nursery and Floriculture Production (11142)

SIC

Forestry (800), Agricultural Services (700), Retail-Building Materials, Hardware, Garden Supply (5200)

akta.pro primary industry

Forest Nurseries, Seed Orchards & Genetic Improvement (AFAMAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Tree Seed Collection & Processing (AFAMADAA), Seed Production & Multiplication (Contract Growing, Foundation/Certified Seed) (AFABAFAK), Seed Collection, Processing & Storage (Provenance/Genetics) (AFAMACAB)

Keywords

• Heritage seed conservation
• Organic heirloom seeds
• Heritage apple trees
• Seed bank services
• Agricultural biodiversity

Headquarters

HQ city

Scarriff

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Product Sales (Seeds and Trees): E-commerce sales of organic heirloom seeds, heritage apple trees, garden accessories, books, and gift items through their online shop.
2. Tour and Workshop Fees: Revenue from guided tours (starting from €15 per person), workshops on seed saving, grafting, cider making, and polytunnel management.
3. Supporter Memberships: Supporters receive exclusive access to supporter-only seeds, special discounts, and other benefits. Provides recurring membership revenue.
4. Donations: One-off and monthly donations from supporters to support seed conservation, apple orchards, education programmes, and research networks.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Irish Seed Savers is a nonprofit conservation organisation that maintains Ireland's only national living seed bank (1,160+ heritage open-pollinated vegetable varieties) and the National Heritage Apple Tree Collection (200+ Irish apple varieties). It sells organic heirloom seeds, heritage apple trees (bare root, potted, and ACRES scheme), other fruit and native trees, and garden gifts via its online shop and on-site store, and operates guided tours, workshops, and a Supporter Membership programme that fund its conservation work.

Product overview

Irish Seed Savers is a non-profit conservation organisation operating a living seed bank and heritage apple orchards in County Clare, Ireland, founded in 1991. Its core product portfolio centres on the sale of organic heritage/open-pollinated vegetable seeds (over 166 varieties across 20+ categories) and Irish heritage apple trees (over 200 varieties available as bare root, potted, or ACRES scheme trees), supplemented by other fruit and native trees, rootstocks for grafting, and a garden gift shop offering books, tools, seed sets, and accessories. The organisation also operates a supporter/membership programme offering exclusive seeds and discounts, alongside educational workshops and farm tours. No public or partner-facing API is offered.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Organic Heirloom Seeds Curated catalogue of organic and heritage open-pollinated seed varieties (166 varieties across categories such as Beans & Peas, Brassicas, Root Vegetables, Tomatoes, Herbs, Flowers, Grains, Squash, and Pumpkins) sold to home gardeners and growers from the Living Seed Bank.
• Irish Heritage Apple Trees Ireland's national heritage collection of apple tree varieties, available as bare-root trees (111 varieties) and potted trees (95 varieties), including Cider, Cookers, Crab, Dual Purpose, and Eaters. Each tree is grafted from heritage scion wood from the National Irish Heritage Apple Tree Collection.
• ACRES Apple Trees Heritage apple trees available under the ACRES (Area of Compact Regeneration for Economy and Society) scheme, sold by county and category (cider, cookers, crab, dual purpose, eaters), with 59 tree varieties listed.
• Other Trees Additional tree varieties for sale, including Native Irish Trees, Nut Trees, Pear Trees, and Plum Trees, with 11 varieties listed.
• Garden Gift Shop Accessory and gift shop (171 items) selling Books, Cards & Gifts, CDs, Gloves, Green Manures & Compost, Hand Tools, Knives & Secateurs, Seed Gift Sets, Snacks & Food, Soap, T-Shirts & Bags, and Vouchers for home gardeners.
• Supporter Membership Annual Supporter programme offering exclusive access to supporter-only seeds, special discounts, and 10% off workshops, with membership fees directly funding Irish Seed Savers' conservation work.
• Guided Tours, Group Tours & Workshops On-site guided tours (from €15 per person), group tours, self-guided tours, and hands-on workshops on seed saving, grafting, cider making, and polytunnel management at the 20-acre County Clare conservation site, for visitors, schools, and community groups.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1,160+ heritage vegetable varieties preserved and available
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 December 2025Landmark partnership for plant conservation and food security in Ireland. Collaboration marks a historic step forward in protecting Ireland's rich horticultural heritage, with focus on the Heritage Fruit Tree Collection.
• The EcovillageminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 April 2025Participated in Ecovillage Lunchtime Webinar Series on 'Apples, Nature & Community', exploring how apple heritage helps address biodiversity and reclaim local food sovereignty.
• European Coordination of Let's Liberate Diversity (EC-LLD)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 October 2023Hosted the 12th European Forum at Trinity College Dublin, bringing together 20 member organizations from 19 European countries with 35,000+ members to discuss cultivated diversity and dynamic seed management.
• Native Irish Honey Bee Society (NIHBS)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 June 2022Irish Seed Savers became a Voluntary Conservation Area for Ireland's native black honeybees, committed to preserving the local genetic character.
• Canvas BreweryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborating on hops genetic profiling project to understand heritage hops genetics and support conservation-informed brewing practices.
• University of LimerickminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnering to investigate protein levels in heirloom pea varieties, supporting sustainable agriculture research.
• Irish Environment NetworkminorOthersMember of the Irish Environment Network supporting environmental causes.
• Guaranteed IrishminorOthersGuaranteed Irish member, supporting Irish-owned businesses and jobs.
• Bord BiaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerParticipated in Bord Bia Bloom festival to promote heritage seeds and awareness.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Arche Noah: Austrian nonprofit maintaining an extensive heritage seed and fruit collection with educational programming; member of the EC-LLD network alongside Irish Seed Savers.
• Seed Savers Exchange: US-based nonprofit operating a heritage seed exchange and educational farm with thousands of open-pollinated varieties — the closest international analogue to Irish Seed Savers in mission, structure, and operating model.
• Kokopelli: French association distributing heritage and organic seeds across Europe with farmer-grower conservation networks; comparable in distribution and advocacy scope.
• Heritage Seed Library (Garden Organic): UK-based charity running a heritage seed library and conservation collection of open-pollinated varieties; directly comparable mission and UK/IE horticulture overlap.
• Real Seeds: Small UK heritage seed producer selling open-pollinated varieties direct-to-consumer with seed-saving ethos; comparable e-commerce heritage seed catalogue.
• ProSpecieRara: Swiss foundation dedicated to preserving rare cultivated plants and livestock breeds through farmer/seed-keeper networks — closely mirrors ISSA's Seed Guardian community model.
• Native Seeds/SEARCH: Nonprofit regional seed bank conserving indigenous crop varieties with an educational mission; comparable model of community-led heritage seed conservation.

Broad incumbents

• Vitalis Organic Seeds: Dutch organic vegetable seed company with broad commercial scale and professional breeding programs; represents the commercial incumbent counterpart in the heritage/organic seed category.

Regional players

• Irish Heritage Trust: Ireland-based charity conserving built and natural heritage sites; shares the Irish conservation-charity operating context and potential funder overlap.

Others

• Botanic Gardens Conservation International: International network supporting plant conservation and seed banking policy; adjacent enabling peer with overlapping expertise on plant genetic resource conservation standards.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/irishseedsavers
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/IrishSeedSaversAssoc
• Facebookfacebook.com/irishseedsavers
• Instagraminstagram.com/irishseedsavers.ie

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 Irish Seed Savers