SEED companies invest a great deal of time and money into the development of new varieties. It takes between 12-15 years to breed, select, trial and market a particular grass variety. In addition there is a need to sustain and manage a distribution network that can serve its customer base. One such company is DLF
Many end users only ever see a finished product and
Trifolium which breeds, manufactures and sells grass seed to both the amenity and agricultural markets throughout Europe. The parent company, DLF
probably don’t give a second thought to how it all began. The complicated processes
25 kg bag of grass seed is one such example.
undertaken to finally arrive at a
Miranda Chambers takes Pitchcare’s Laurence Gale MSc on a guided tour of
Trifolium A/S, is based in Roskilde, Denmark and is collectively owned by 5,500 seed growers. With twelve production sites operating in Demark, DLF has the capability to produce well over 80,000 hectares of seed which is exported around the world. The company currently produces 46% of the grass seed consumed within the EU. DLF Trifolium UK was born out of the
amalgamation of a number of companies in 2001. DLF is Britain’s largest, and fastest growing, grass seed company with an annual turnover of approximately £25m, employing over 120 staff on a number of sites. Leith and Lincoln are the designated sites supplying
seed for the agricultural markets, with Inkberrow as the main site that deals predominantly with the amenity and lawn seed supply. Despite being located in a small village in the heart of the Worcestershire countryside, Inkberrow is the headquarters for all of DLF’s UK operations. A number of farm buildings, set in 90 acres of land, have been renovated and modified to provide over 60,000 square feet of office, warehousing, mixing and bagging up areas. There are plans to create a further 10,000 square feet of storage. The site also provides land for seed trials for grass and wild flower species, and a small quantity of forage crops.
The company's main Amenity ranges are: - • Johnson’s Sport and Amenity range: promoted as the company’s premium seed and marketed through a distributor network.
• Techni Turf range which is marketed exclusively by Sherriff Amenity.
• The Pro Range which offers a choice of 37 mixes for a variety of purposes e.g. landscaping, lawns, sport and reclamation.
ON the day I visited Inkberrow I was greeted by Miranda Chambers, PR and Marketing officer for DLF UK, who explained the finer points of the business and what the company was aiming to achieve in the coming years. She
emphasized the company’s ongoing strategy to sustain and expand the existing customer base by paying attention to, and
monitoring, the customer’s needs and requirements. One of the key issues was to ensure the company employed appropriate, qualified, staff with the desire, drive and ambition to take the business forward. In recent years DLF has taken on several new staff who have all contributed to the success of the company’s portfolio. Inkberrow is primarily a
processing plant where they mix the seeds to specific product requirements. The seed generally arrives in bags or one cubic metre containers from Denmark or Holland. The seed is transported and tipped into the mixing chambers, where several grass species can be mixed together to produce a particular product. Once mixed the material is then bagged and transported to the storage
DLF Trifolium
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