History

Tozer Seeds are a British company breeding vegetable varieties in the UK. The company currently has over 80 employees and is represented in Spain, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland as well as the USA and Canada.

Company Beginnings

In the mid 1930's the founder of Tozer Seeds, Mr Arthur Tozer, left the seed company Watkins and Simpson and with the help of The Thames Valley Growers started trading on his own. The business was based in Cobham, Surrey, to service the needs of the growers who had helped him. At this time he was a proficient vegetable specialist and had already gained awards from the Royal Horticultural Society for a number of reselected varieties.

At the same time the young Dermot Dawson was training as a geneticist and finishing his doctoral degree. As part of his practical work at the famous John Innes Institute he helped to breed John Innes Hybrid, the first hybrid sweetcorn suitable for growing in England. In 1939 he was introduced to Mr Tozer and joined him as a plant breeder shortly after in 1940. He was almost certainly the first scientifically qualified plant breeder in the UK vegetable trade at the time.

Mr Tozer's business venture was proving to be successful, as was the appointment of Dr Dermot Dawson, and as WWII moved to a conclusion it was incorporated as A. L. Tozer Ltd in November 1944.

Early Successes

In the early years of the company, a number of market leading varieties were bred, developed and introduced to suit the post war consumer. When Mr Tozer died in 1952 aged 72, Dr Dermot Dawson and his family carried on the business and steady business expansion was to follow.

In 1956 Dr Dermot Dawson developed the world renowned lettuce Cobham Green, the major butterhead variety of the 1960's, and lettuce Mayfair for cold frame production which was the first British bred variety to gain Plant Breeders Rights, granted in Holland in 1964. At that time Dermot also devised the first method for screening varieties for mildew resistance resulting in the successful lettuce Mildura.

The Next Generation

In 1969 having completed his training in the USA, Dr Peter Dawson, the son of Dermot joined the company as the plant breeder. He created the highly mildew resistant lettuce Diana in 1975 and made steady progress with the lettuce breeding programme that continues to this day.

During the 1970's and 1980's Dr. Peter Dawson increased the innovative breeding for which the company is renowned, with the world's first hybrid parsnip Gladiator being released in 1982, and the successful hybrid celery Victoria in 1991. Today Tozer's hybrid parsnips and hybrid celeries are known and grown the world over.

New Techniques in the 1990's

In the early 1990's the new technique of anther culture was adopted. This stimulates young pollen grains in the developing flowers of cabbages, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower to grow into plants, and makes it possible to develop hundreds of lines very quickly. Several cabbage and Brussels sprout varieties have been released using this method, starting with cabbage Pyramid in the late 1990's and continuing to this day.

Tozers had been breeding leeks since the 1970's and the male sterile character that makes hybrid production possible had been identified, however it was not until the 1990's that the method to use this character became available. Leek Oarsman was Tozers first hybrid leek variety and it continues to be a popular choice with growers.

Tozers now has many plant breeders and uses traditional methods combined with modern technology, leading to faster and more reliable introductions of new varieties.

Recent Successes and the Future

Tozers have continued to introduce popular varieties from around the world to the UK, adapting them to UK growing conditions. For instance, many varieties of pumpkins and squash have been introduced from the USA since the 1980's, and more recently butternut squash Hunter was the first small-fruited butternut developed for UK conditions.

Tozers have been pivotal in the introduction of speciality and oriental salad varieties used extensively in bagged salads. In 2003 at a time when supermarkets were just beginning to introduce 'prepared salads' Tozers were working with a Japanese breeding company on UK trials of Orientals such as Mizuna, Tatsoi, Red Chard and others. Fueled by consumer demand for prepared salads this business expanded and varieties such as rocket soon became a commodity. Tozers currently concentrates on exotic varieties such as wild rocket and also screens and adapts innovative varieties from around the world.

Other notable breeding successes in recent years include; runner bean Aintree which combines good yield and excellent flavour, Ramrod and Eiffel salad onions, and Flyaway and Resistafly carrots with carrot root fly resistance.

Tozers are now the largest UK supplier of chillies, with over 50 varieties available, and a major supplier of seed for speciality tomatoes.

With one of the largest catalogues of vegetable varieties available in the UK, Tozer Seeds Ltd are committed to using the most up to date methods in vegetable breeding combined with innovative variety selections from associated breeding companies, to meet the present and future needs of growers.