Sester Farms, Inc

What Sester Farms, Inc does

Sester Farms, Inc. is a privately held, family-owned wholesale nursery founded in 1972 in Gresham, Oregon, operating 1,500 acres in the Northern Willamette Valley. The company produces nursery stock across more than 150 varieties including conifers, deciduous trees, shrubs, evergreen shrubs, shrub roses, ornamental grasses, berries, perennials, and greenhouse liners, available in container, B&B (balled and burlapped), and bareroot formats. The firm's core technical differentiation centers on root pruning and transplanting techniques learned by founder Gordon Sester at Iseli Nursery, which are trademarked and have defined the brand identity since inception.

The business operates two B2B divisions serving distinct customer segments. The Garden Centers division supplies retail-ready plants with delivered pricing, picture tags, and custom retail price labels to garden centers across the US and Canada. The Growers & Rewholesalers division supplies field or shift-ready greenhouse liners, bareroot and grow bag deciduous trees, and root-optimized container plants to commercial growers. Production infrastructure includes a continuous mixing potting line capable of processing 10,000 to 15,000 #7 to #10 container trees per day, cold storage for later-season shipping, a doubled canyard, propagation houses, and a shipping facility with eight loading docks.

Sester Farms employs approximately 32 people including a 14-person sales team with direct relationships across multiple US states and Canadian provinces. The company is family-led, with Ted Sester serving as Sales Manager and multi-generational Sester family involvement across operations and sales. Revenue is generated through quote-based wholesale transactions under a delivered pricing model with no freight bill to customers, supported by downloadable PDF catalogs, zone-based availability documents, and a credit application workflow. The company is privately held with no external institutional investors, no funding rounds, no M&A activity, and no public ticker.

Name

Sester Farms, Inc

Legal name

Sester Farms, Inc

Website

https://sesterfarms.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1972

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sester Farms, Inc. is a family-owned wholesale nursery in Gresham, Oregon, operating 1,500 acres producing 150+ varieties of conifers, deciduous trees, shrubs, and perennials for garden centers and commercial growers across the US and Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wholesale Nursery Stock

NAICS

Nursery and Tree Production (111421), Greenhouse, Nursery, and Floriculture Production (1114)

SIC

Agricultural Production-Crops (100)

akta.pro primary industry

Nursery Production (Woody Ornamentals: Trees, Shrubs, Roses) (AFAGAHAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Nursery Stock & Propagule Production (Cuttings, Rootstocks, Grafts) (AFAGAIAO)

Keywords

• Wholesale nursery stock
• Container grown plants
• Bareroot trees
• Greenhouse liners
• Garden center supply

Headquarters

HQ city

Gresham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Wholesale Nursery Stock Sales: Sester Farms generates revenue through wholesale sales of nursery stock including conifers, deciduous trees, shrubs, roses, ornamental grasses, berries, perennials, and greenhouse liners to garden centers and growers. Products are offered in various forms including container, B&B (balled and burlapped), and bareroot. They offer delivered pricing and custom retail price labels.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Sester Farms grows and supplies wholesale nursery stock across 1,500 acres in Gresham, Oregon, selling container, B&B, and bareroot conifers, deciduous trees, shrubs, evergreen shrubs, shrub roses, ornamental grasses, berries, perennials, and greenhouse liners to garden centers and commercial growers throughout the US and Canada. Products are organized by hardiness zone availability and offered with delivered pricing that includes custom retail price labels.

Product overview

Sester Farms, Inc is a 1,500-acre Oregon nursery that supplies nursery stock to Growers and Garden Centers across the US and Canada. The company operates two main divisions: the Garden Centers Division (under the 'Plants That Sell' brand) supplies retail-ready premium plants including flowers, shrubs, live Christmas trees, shrub roses, ornamental grasses, berries, and perennials with delivered pricing, picture tags, and custom retail price labels; and the Growers & Rewholesalers Division (under the 'Growing Made Simple' brand) supplies commercial growers with greenhouse liners (deciduous and evergreen), bareroot deciduous trees, and root-optimized container plants. The core product portfolio includes conifers (the founding product line established in 1972), deciduous trees, shrubs, evergreen shrubs, shrub roses, ornamental grasses, ornamental berries, perennials, and greenhouse liners. Products are available in multiple formats including container, B&B (balled and burlapped), and bareroot.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Conifers Quality root-pruned conifer trees offered in container, B&B (balled and burlapped), and bareroot formats, sold to garden centers and commercial growers across the US and Canada.
• Deciduous Trees Deciduous shade trees offered in containers, bareroot, and grow bags for garden centers and growers.
• Shrubs Extensive selection of shrubs providing beauty and value for garden center retail and commercial growing operations.
• Evergreen Shrubs Evergreen shrubs offered in containers for retail garden center sales.
• Shrub Roses Disease-resistant shrub roses with continuous blooms and a wide color range, designed for retail garden center sale.
• Ornamental Grasses Ornamental grasses that are easily grown with low maintenance, suitable for garden center retail.
• Berries (Ornamental) Compact, ornamental berry plants designed for the home garden market.
• Perennials Perennial plants providing color, texture, and form for garden centers.
• Greenhouse Liners Quality deciduous and evergreen liners for growers and rewholesalers, supplied as starting materials for grow-on operations.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Carlton Plants: Oregon-based wholesale nursery producing shade, flowering, and ornamental trees plus liners for growers and rewholesalers; directly comparable in geography, customer base, and bareroot/container product formats.
• Loma Vista Nursery: Wholesale nursery producing container trees, shrubs, and perennials for garden centers across the Midwest and beyond; comparable B2B model serving garden centers and landscape professionals.
• Bailey Nurseries: Large Midwest-based wholesale nursery producing container and bareroot trees, shrubs, and perennials for garden centers across the US and Canada; comparable multi-category wholesale model at larger scale.
• Heritage Seedlings & Liners: Oregon wholesale liner and propagation nursery supplying field- and shift-ready starter plants to growers and rewholesalers; directly comparable to Sester's Growers & Rewholesalers Division.
• Star Roses and Plants (Conard-Pyle): Pennsylvania-based wholesale producer of roses, woody plants, and perennials for garden centers; directly comparable for the shrub rose and perennial portion of Sester's catalog.
• Iseli Nursery: Oregon conifer and Japanese maple specialist wholesale nursery where Sester's founder Gordon Sester learned root-pruning and grafting techniques; directly comparable in conifer focus, Oregon geography, and B2B wholesale channel.
• J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co. Pacific Northwest wholesale shade and ornamental tree nursery also shipping container, B&B, and bareroot stock to growers and retailers across North America; directly comparable in product mix, geography, and B2B channel.
• Van Essen Nursery: Pacific Northwest wholesale nursery producing deciduous shade trees and conifers for commercial growers and rewholesalers; comparable in geography, product mix, and B2B rewholesale channel.

Emerging players

• Proven Winners (Spring Meadow Nursery): Michigan-based wholesale nursery marketing branded flowering shrubs, perennials, and annuals to garden centers; partial overlap with Sester's shrub and perennial catalog but differentiated by branded genetics and finished-plant focus.

Broad incumbents

• Monrovia Nursery Company: Large national wholesale nursery brand producing a broad assortment of container ornamentals for garden centers across the US; overlaps with Sester's retail-ready division at significantly larger scale and broader geographic footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sester-farms-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 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 Sester Farms, Inc