Company History
Vilmorin Garden – Company History
Since 1743, Vilmorin has been passing down its passion for plants to generations of gardening enthusiasts. Our brand’s story began in a shop along the Seine River in Paris, where we sold vegetables that would only become popular across Europe many years later. At the same time, we pioneered the cultivation of the sugar beets during the Napoleonic Wars when the English blockade cut off the supply of sugar cane to France. We also supported the French agronomist and pharmacist Antoine Parmentier in making potatoes an essential food – without us, that could never have happened!
In 1766, we came up with a groundbreaking idea: to sell seeds in packets, a practice we continue to do successfully to this day. Over centuries, we have gathered expertise that now allows us to offer top-quality seeds, forming the foundation of the beautiful and healthy gardens.
Vilmorin Garden was established in 1999 as a joint venture company under the name Cnos-Vilmorin. The majority partner, holding 51%, was the Vilmorin Clause & Cie Group, a global leader in the vegetable, flower, and herb seed market, with the remaining shares held by the respected Poznań-based company CNOS PNO Sp. z o.o. Today, Vilmorin Garden is solely owned by the French Vilmorin Jardin, which is a part of the Limagrain Group—a leading global producer of vegetable seeds and a top player in the agricultural-gardening industry. Through Limagrain, the esteemed Vilmorin brand has become well-known across Europe and worldwide.
Limagrain Group operates in two main areas:
- Professional sector, where it ranks as the second-largest company globally,
- Amateur sector, in which it is the world leader, with companies across the globe.
Vilmorin Garden is a part of the amateur sector, specializing in the sale of seeds, bulbs, grasses, and other products for hobby gardeners and allotment growers.
Our Mission is:
To create the market and communicate solutions,
that help the hobbyists to achieve success and satisfaction in their gardens!
From the first seed catalogs to the development of the new, resilient plant varieties, Vilmorin, a brand of Limagrain Group, represents over 280 years of innovation, which we proudly place in your hands.
