"There is a need in South Africa for vegetable seeds that have been trialed and tested at trusted screening sites before they get commercialized. We import the seeds from different breeding programs globally, we test them at our screening sites in Limpopo, trial them at different growers, and only then continue to commercialize," according to Tinus Stigling, co-founder of MirMar Seeds.
The Covid pandemic meant the start of a new company in 2020 for South Africans Tinus Stigling and Wynand van der Westhuizen. The combination of 40 years of experience in the vegetable seed industry and the extent of 80 million vegetable seeds and 20 million tobacco seeds, set the perfect foundation for these distributors.
MirMar Seeds offer vegetable seeds from different breeding programs globally after testing the varieties in Tzaneen, South Africa. "'MirMar' is the combination of the names of our two wives, Wynand's wife is Mira, and my wife is Marlene," Tinus Stigling said when asked about their company.
Training session at MirMar Seeds/ WD Seedlings in Limpopo
MirMar Seeds partners with WD Seedlings to propagate seedlings of these seed varieties ready to be distributed to growers throughout South Africa. The name originated from founder Wynand van der Westhuizen and provides a range of seedlings including flowers, foliage, vegetables, tobacco, and herbs.
They cater from garden scale to commercial growers. The testing sites of MirMar Seeds/ WD Seedlings are based in Tzaneen before they get tested between the different growers. Since they cater to both open field and specialized production in greenhouses, the varieties need to get tested in the different microclimatic areas of South Africa. Their crops include a whole range of vegetable crops including tomatoes and peppers.
The biggest market in South Africa is still open field and they have specialized growing varieties for tomatoes and peppers.
Tinus explains his biggest challenge in South Africa is the exchange rate, and for their growers, it is labor costs. "Because MirMar imports so many seeds globally from international breeders, the USD/ EUR exchange rate to the South African Rand has a large impact on the company's profit margin. When looking at the total input costs for our growers, their labor costs are substantial.
Growing medium
To further develop their package offered to growers, MirMar Seeds also focuses on external factors such as growing medium. Coco substrate producer Van Der Knaap Group recently visited the trial sites in Tzaneen where they presented training for growing the seedlings in their growth medium.
Together with the seedlings, this growing medium also gets distributed to the growers. There are selected suppliers of the Van Der Knaap growing medium who will package the medium individually under different trade names where they get to decide the ratio between peat and coir.
The partnership between MirMar Seeds and the Van Der Knaap group started during Renee Zwinkel's 8-year period in South Africa where they got to know one another well in the vegetable seed industry. Continual visits and relationship building form a strong part of the working relationship.
One such visit was on the 15th of August this year when the two companies officially started their collaboration. The training was given to the cultivation and sales team of MirMar Seeds to distribute the products of the Van Der Knaap group.
For more information:
MirMar Seeds
Website:mirmarseeds.co.za
Tinus Stigling
Email: [email protected]
WD Seedlings
Website: wdseedlings.co.za
Email: [email protected]
Van Der Knaap Group
www.vanderknaap.info