France
March 2013
Witloof chicory, Brussels chicory, chicon… whichever name it goes under, this species is becoming an increasingly successful one in Vilmorin's product range. Resulting from a project which started 27 years ago, the growth in sales it has enjoyed in our subsidiary Vilmorin SA over the past five years is the result of various innovations.
Starting in the 1980's, a team comprising salespeople and a seed technology specialist embarked on the task of how best to stand out in the witloof chicory market, in which everyone was selling the same germplasm from INRA. They very quickly decided to look towards seeds which were improved using grading and film coating, just as pneumatic seeding machines were appearing on the scene, leading to more regular sowing at 450 grams per hectard instead of two kilos, thus reducing costs for its customers (better seed positioning in fields, improved germination rates and big savings in manpower). Then in 1998 Vilmorin started using a mini-pelleting method, which involved seed activation. This process, which was highly disparaged at the time, finally made it possible to secure even more seeds, forming the basis of the success enjoyed by witloof chicory (and many other crops). Before it had even marketed its own seed range, Vilmorin emerged as the biggest innovator within a highly conservative market.
The other major innovation introduced by Vilmorin during the 1990s was CMS. This stands for Cytoplasmic Male Sterility, and is a technology which provides better varietal purity as Producing witloof chicory seeds well as roots which are more uniform in size, thus increasing yields.
Since 2001, Vilmorin's range of products has been supplemented by a number of varieties, so as to cover all niches of the global market. These include Crenoline F1, which significantly improved the agronomic qualities of existing varieties, especially field vigor and strong tolerance of witloof chicory diseases. Over a period of five years, this has become Vilmorin's leading variety of witloof chicory, as well as the leading variety on the international market.
Today, Vilmorin is the world's largest supplier of witloof chicory seed. Every year, new varieties are added to the list of possibilities producers have for improving the quality of their products and for introducing new ones, such as, for example, curly chicories, which can be white or red and which result from forcing, soon to be available in stores.
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