SAATEN-UNION
SAATEN-UNION GmbH is a German seed consortium marketing certified varieties across 40+ crop species to farmers in Germany and 16+ international markets through a regional sales consultant network and proprietary brands including HySeed, BOOST, and viterra.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1965
- HeadquartersIsernhagen, Germany
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What SAATEN-UNION does
SAATEN-UNION GmbH is a German agricultural seed company headquartered in Isernhagen, Lower Saxony, founded in 1965 and structured as a consortium coordinating approximately five medium-sized German plant breeders. The company markets certified seed varieties across more than 40 crop species, including cereals, maize, oilseeds, catch crops, and organic varieties, serving farmers in Germany and 16+ international markets through a regional network of independent sales consultants. Its branded product portfolio includes HySeed (hybrid cereals), BOOST (maize specialization), and viterra (cover crop mixtures), positioning it as a multi-crop seed distributor rather than a single-crop specialist.
The company invests in plant breeding research through its dedicated subsidiary SAATEN-UNION BIOTEC GmbH and operates regional trial stations, including the Versuchsstation Moosburg established in 1992, to develop new registered varieties approved by the German Federal Plant Variety Office (Bundessortenamt). In 2026 alone, six new grain variety registrations were secured. The business distributes exclusively Z-Saatgut certified seed under the German quality standard, and supports grower decision-making through digital tools such as the Sortenfinder variety selector and seed rate calculators. Distribution is built on agronomic advisory relationships rather than direct-to-grower e-commerce.
Revenue is generated through B2B sales of certified seed varieties under a multi-brand portfolio, with pricing tied to certified quality, variety performance data, and agronomic support rather than commodity seed pricing. The company does not publicly disclose revenue, and as a privately held GmbH it is not subject to public reporting requirements. The customer base is a fragmented long-tail of European farmers purchasing small per-order volumes across multiple crop types, creating diversified revenue but no anchor enterprise contracts.
SAATEN-UNION firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- SAATEN-UNION
- Legal name
- SAATEN-UNION GmbH
- Website
- https://saaten-union.de
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1965
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- SAATEN-UNION GmbH is a German seed consortium marketing certified varieties across 40+ crop species to farmers in Germany and 16+ international markets through a regional sales consultant network and proprietary brands including HySeed, BOOST, and viterra.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
SAATEN-UNION industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Agricultural Seeds
- NAICS
- Oilseed and Grain Farming (1111), Other Vegetable (except Potato) and Melon Farming (111219), Food Crops Grown Under Cover (11141)
- SIC
- Agricultural Services (700), Agricultural Production-Crops (100)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Registered Seed Production (AFAGAIAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Seed & Hybrid/Variety Selection Consulting (AFACABAK), Cover Crop & Conservation Practice Planning (AFACABAI)
Keywords
Where SAATEN-UNION is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Isernhagen
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
SAATEN-UNION business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Seed Sales and Distribution: SAATEN-UNION acts as the sales and cooperation organization for multiple medium-sized plant breeders, marketing agricultural seed varieties across more than 40 crop species including wheat, barley, rye, maize, legumes, and cover crops. The company coordinates marketing and partial development of seed varieties from partner breeding programs.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
SAATEN-UNION product offering
Product offeringCore offering
SAATEN-UNION GmbH is a German sales and cooperation organization that coordinates roughly five independent medium-sized plant breeders and markets certified seed varieties (Z-Saatgut) across more than 40 crop species — including cereals, maize, legumes, oilseeds, catch crops and cover crop mixtures — to commercial farmers. The company complements its seed portfolio with the viterra cover crop programme, the BOOST corn positioning system, regional agronomic advisory services through field sales consultants, and digital decision-support tools such as the Sortenfinder and various agronomy calculators.
Product overview
SAATEN-UNION GmbH is a German seed and plant breeding company founded in 1965, headquartered in Isernhagen, Lower Saxony. It functions as a sales and cooperation organization for multiple mid-sized plant breeders, coordinating the marketing and partial development of agricultural seed varieties. The company offers the broadest portfolio in the market, including: Grain crops (winter wheat, winter barley, winter rye, triticale, spelt, durum, hybrid wheat, oats, summer varieties), Corn/maize (grain corn and silage/biogas corn in various maturity groups), Cover crops (viterra® brand mixtures including soil fertility, nature/environment, organic mixtures; V-Max® for fodder and biomass; SortenGreening®; BasisGrün®; and specialized mixtures like DROHNE for drone sowing and UNTERSAAT for undersowing), Legumes (lupines, field beans, peas, soybeans, chickpeas), Specialty crops (oilseed radish, yellow mustard, wild oat, fodder rape, sunflower, flax, fodder/energy beets), and Organic varieties across all crop types. The BOOST program offers specialized corn solutions: SU MILK BOOST (dairy-optimized mix), SU DRY DOWN BOOST (dent corn genetics for reduced drying), SU FUTTER BOOST (high digestibility/energy), SU STÄRKE BOOST (high starch), and SU BIOGAS BOOST (high biogas yield). Digital tools include calculators for seeding, variety finder, buyer maps, and harvest management. The company also produces the praxiscast.agrar podcast and provides downloadable brochures and ordering materials.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- HySeed: Hybrid rye seed brand offering HySeed Hybridroggen products.
- viterra
- SU MILKBOOST
- SU DRY DOWN BOOST
- SU FUTTER BOOST
- SU STÄRKE BOOST
- SU BIOGAS BOOST
- V-Max
- BasisGrün
- SortenGreening
Products and services
- Winterweizen (Winter Wheat) Seed Varieties
Quantifiable outcome
- On every fourth oat field in Europe
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use SAATEN-UNION
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
SAATEN-UNION technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
SAATEN-UNION partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- SAATEN-UNION BIOTEC GmbHcoreWholly-owned subsidiary established at the interface between research and application practice. Focused on new technologies and engagement in joint research and development initiatives. Serves as the company's dedicated biotechnology and R&D arm.
- P.H. Petersen Saatzucht Lundsgaard GmbHcoreMedium-sized plant breeder and shareholder in SAATEN-UNION. Developer of proprietary crop varieties including SU CARL summer triticale. Breeding programs focus on cereals and other crops.
- Südwestdeutsche Saatzucht GmbH & Co. KGcorePlant breeding company and shareholder developing varieties for SAATEN-UNION including winter durum wheat varieties such as WINTERSTERN. Specializes in spelt, emmer, einkorn, durum, and other specialty cereals.
- AG FUKO (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Futtersaaten, Futterbau und Futterkonservierung e.V.)minorWorking group for forage seeds, forage management, and forage conservation. Joint research partner for silage density studies and aerobic stability of maize silages alongside Landwirtschaftskammer Niedersachsen.
- Landwirtschaftskammer NiedersachsenminorAgricultural chamber of Lower Saxony. Collaborated with SAATEN-UNION and AG FUKO on practical surveys regarding long-cut silage storage densities in maize cultivation.
- Humboldt-Universität zu BerlinminorCollaborated with SAATEN-UNION, Landwirtschaftskammer Niedersachsen, and AG FUKO on research regarding storage densities and aerobic stability of long-cut maize silages.
- Bundessortenamt (Federal Plant Variety Office)coreGerman federal office for plant variety testing and approval. SAATEN-UNION Versuchsstation Moosburg serves as a competent service provider for official variety testing. New varieties receive official approval through this body.
- Five Medium-Sized Plant Breeders (Shareholders)coreSAATEN-UNION is a consortium of five medium-sized plant breeders, often family businesses grown across generations. These independent breeders contribute varieties to the shared sales platform coordinated by SAATEN-UNION.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
SAATEN-UNION competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Corteva Agriscience (Pioneer): Global seed and crop protection major, with Pioneer as a leading maize and cereal seed brand in Europe. Competes head-to-head in maize segments (BOOST-program overlap) and increasingly in cereals, but with materially larger R&D and global genetics.
- Syngenta Group: Global agrichemical and seed major with broad portfolios in cereals, maize, oilseeds, and vegetables. Overlaps with SAATEN-UNION across cereals and maize but operates as a global incumbent with biotech and crop-protection scale far beyond.
- Bayer Crop Science (incl. Monsanto): World's largest seed and crop protection company with Dekalb maize and broad cereal genetics. Competes with SAATEN-UNION across most major European crops but at a fundamentally different scale and with a biotech-heavy trait portfolio.
- BASF Agricultural Solutions: Global agrichemical and seed player with varieties in oilseeds, cereals, and vegetables. Indirectly comparable through seed-trait offerings and crop system positioning in the European market.
Direct peers
- RAGT Semences: French mid-sized seed breeder and marketer active in cereals, maize, sorghum, sunflower, and legumes. Comparable as a non-global mid-cap European seed company competing in the same product categories and farmer segments.
- KWS SAAT SE: Publicly listed German seed company headquartered in Einbeck, operating across cereals, maize, sugar beet, and catch crops with its own breeding programs. Most direct European peer given similar German origin, comparable crop portfolio breadth, and overlapping farmer customer base.
- Deutsche Saatveredelung AG (DSV): German cooperative-style seed company active in cereals, rapeseed, grasses, and catch crops. Highly comparable given the cooperative governance model, similar crop mix, and shared customer base of German and European arable farmers.
- Strube D&S GmbH: German family-owned seed breeder specializing in sugar beet, wheat, and sunflower. Comparable as a German mid-sized breeder selling through similar channels to European arable farmers.
- DLF Seeds A/S: Danish global leader in forage and amenity grass seeds with growing activity in sugar beet, clover, and cover crops. Comparable for the cover crop / forage mixture overlap with SAATEN-UNION's viterra and BasisGrün ranges.
- Limagrain: French farmer-cooperative seed group operating across field crops, vegetables, and cereals through brands such as LG Seeds and Vilmorin. Closely comparable cooperative governance model and pan-European field-seed footprint.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
SAATEN-UNION social profiles
Digital presenceSAATEN-UNION financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
SAATEN-UNION leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
SAATEN-UNION subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
SAATEN-UNION funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
SAATEN-UNION M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about SAATEN-UNION
What does SAATEN-UNION do?
SAATEN-UNION GmbH is a German sales and cooperation organization that coordinates roughly five independent medium-sized plant breeders and markets certified seed varieties (Z-Saatgut) across more than 40 crop species — including cereals, maize, legumes, oilseeds, catch crops and cover crop mixtures — to commercial farmers. The company complements its seed portfolio with the viterra cover crop programme, the BOOST corn positioning system, regional agronomic advisory services through field sales consultants, and digital decision-support tools such as the Sortenfinder and various agronomy calculators.
Is SAATEN-UNION a public or private company?
SAATEN-UNION is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was SAATEN-UNION founded?
SAATEN-UNION was founded in 1965. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is SAATEN-UNION based?
SAATEN-UNION is headquartered in Isernhagen, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does SAATEN-UNION make money?
One revenue line is on record: seed Sales and Distribution.
Who are SAATEN-UNION's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Corteva Agriscience (Pioneer), Syngenta Group, Bayer Crop Science (incl. Monsanto) and BASF Agricultural Solutions. Direct peers are RAGT Semences, KWS SAAT SE, Deutsche Saatveredelung AG (DSV), Strube D&S GmbH, DLF Seeds A/S and Limagrain.
Does SAATEN-UNION have an API?
No public API is recorded for SAATEN-UNION.
What industry is SAATEN-UNION in?
SAATEN-UNION's product category is Agricultural Seeds. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAGAIAB, Registered Seed Production, with a secondary code of AFACABAK, Seed & Hybrid/Variety Selection Consulting. Its NAICS code is 1111 and its SIC code is 700.