Bayer and Monsanto mostly complement each other with their high-tech vegetable seeds, rather than overlap, according to John Willems, responsible for Bayer’s Nunhems vegetable seeds in the Benelux countries
Are buyers of Nunhems also going to sell Merlice? What changes for cultivators? These are questions arising since it became known yesterday that Monsanto and Bayer reached an agreement on taking-over Monsanto. But nothing can be said about them yet, according to John Willems. “The combination of Bayer-Monsanto will not become reality until the end of 2017, and only then, if the competition authority approves of the take-over. Before that happens, we cannot and are not allowed, to do anything.”
Moreover, vegetable seeds are only a small part of the entire Bayer-Monsanto deal. The shares of agricultural seeds in total are much bigger. High-tech vegetable seeds only amount to one per cent of total sales. Yet both companies are big players on the high-tech vegetable market. “And we can see these crops are a growth market. For years already, one of our main objectives has been strengthening ourselves in high-tech vegetables, and investments in this have been increasing for years. This take-over fits that. Monsanto is also investing in these branches.”
Willems sees Bayer and Monsanto complementing each other in high-tech vegetables. “Naturally, we have already made estimates about that, and we do not see many overlapping points.” Looking at the three largest plants -both Bayer and Monsanto are active in improving tomatoes. “But we from Bayer have to be modest about that. We are a relatively new player with a limited market share in tomatoes, but we would like to go further with that.” Bayer is the bigger player in cucumbers, although Monsanto recently announced a comeback. Bayer is currently not active in bell peppers at all.
Active in the chain
However, the developments in high-tech vegetables go further than improving new strains. “In order to mean anything on the global market, you must be able to make big investments in research, and you must be involved with the entire chain, right up to the consumer. That is why it is also important to be active on many markets, and to have a certain size.”
And there is also the combination of crop protection. Bayer is active in the crop protection for greenhouse horticulture as well. “Years ago we decided to keep these specialities separate. That is hard-wired into the DNA of our company. We want to be active on the vegetable seed market with our experts, and keep that separate from crop protection.”
It is precisely that combination of crop protection and GMO seeds which made Monsanto a controversial player in agricultural crops. According to Willems this is not an issue for high-tech vegetable seeds. “Because genetically modifying crops is not at issue in any case, but also because we do not combine these.” Monsanto’s image, because of this, has been a topic of debate for Bayer. “Image is important for every company. We will have to see how to handle that, but no decision has been made yet. We are going to rack our brains over that in coming years. Combining these two companies offers opportunities for developing new products and services for the market in future, which have not yet been possible.”