Tozer Seeds HOME NEWS DOWNLOADS ABOUT US REGION Global Vegetable Seed Expertise Vegetable BREEDING Seed RANGE Seed TECHNOLOGY The creators of History Tozer Seeds is an independent British vegetable breeding company that currently has over 100 employees and is represented in Europe, Africa, Oceania as well as the USA and Canada. Home > About Tozer Seeds Ltd. > History 2013 Future Products After the millennium Tozer Seeds introduced various new species to suit a colder climate such as butternut squash varieties, oriental leaf products and recently wild rocket varieties such as Wildfire and Dragon's Tongue. Other notable breeding successes in recent years include; runner beans Moonlight and Firestorm with improved pod set and excellent flavour, Ramrod and Guardsman salad onions and the new and unique vegetable Flower Sprout. Tozer Seeds is now the largest UK supplier of chilli peppers, with over 50 varieties available, and a major supplier of seed for speciality tomatoes. Tozer Seeds remains an independent family owned company with Dr. Peter Dawson as chairman. Innovation and a drive to create products with great flavour and field performance is what our varieties stand for around the world. 1950s & 1960s In the 1950's and 1960's world renowned lettuce varieties Cobham Green and Mayfair were introduced and Dermot Dawson devised a method for mildew resistance screening resulting in the successful variety Mildura. 1930s In the mid 1930's the founder of Tozer Seeds, Mr Arthur Tozer, started trading on his own. It was not until 1939 that the AL Tozer Company was founded. The business was based in Cobham, Surrey, to service the growers in the Thames valley area. 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 New Techniques Tozer seeds adopted the anther culture to quickly produce brassica varieties but the most groundbreaking work was realised in leek breeding. Using the male sterile character to produce hybrid leek was indentified and auctioned in the 1990's and leek Oarsman was Tozers first hybrid leek variety and it continues to be a popular choice with growers. The Next Generation In 1969 Dr Peter Dawson, the son of Dermot joined the company as the plant breeder. The first innovation out of Peter Dawson's program was highly mildew resistant lettuce Diana. During the 1970's and 1980's Dr. Peter Dawson increased the innovative breeding with the world's first hybrid parsnip Gladiator being released in 1982, and the successful hybrid celery Victoria in 1991. 1940's In 1940 Dr. Dermot Dawson joined Mr. Tozer after getting his degree in plant breeding. He was almost certainly the first scientifically qualified plant breeder in the UK vegetable trade at the time. Due to the success of their combined efforts in 1944 AL Tozer Ltd was incorporated. In the early years of the company, a number of market leading varieties were bred, developed and introduced to suit the post war consumer. After the death of Mr. Tozer in 1972, Dr Dermot Dawson and his family carried on the business and steady business expansion was to follow. ALL CONTENT © TOZER SEEDS LTD 2013 | TERMS AND CONDITIONS Registered office: Tozer Seeds Ltd. Pyports, Downside Bridge Road, Cobham, Surrey, KT11 3EH. Company Reg No. 3627633