History
Openfolde today still focuses on a business approach that builds long term value. With a rich heritage, we continue to carry many of those same values like innovation and adaption, values that have enabled us to build successful companies.
Below is a timeline outlining our origins through to present day including key milestones and major events.
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25 year old Samuel McCausland travels to Belfast and forms Samuel McCausland Ltd, the founding company of what is now The Openfolde Group.
The company was originally a general merchant business, importing and exporting goods through the busy port of Belfast.
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McCausland’s was at the forefront of the growth of the Northern Irish Seed production industry which expanded dramatically in the first half of this period.
At its peak, Northern Ireland was the largest ryegrass seed production area in the world, exporting seed across Europe and as far afield as Africa, North and South America and even Australia and New Zealand.
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The industry declined and moved overseas as quality standards rose. There is no longer any ryegrass seed grown in Ireland.
The main temperate forage and turf seed production areas worldwide are now the Pacific Northwest of the USA, New Zealand and North Western Europe, particularly Denmark and Holland.
McCausland’s expands into England in the 1960s and as the Northern Irish trade continued to decline, took over other, similar businesses in the local area.
One of these takeovers leads to the formation of British Seed Houses in GB (now Germinal GB) and the renaming of the Holding company as Germinal Holdings Ltd.
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Germinal Ireland is formed in 1982 and grows rapidly to become the market leader in forage seeds over 30 years.
The world seed industry begins to rationalise as companies disappear or are taken over by the larger players.
Germinal Holdings signs an agreement with the Welsh Plant Breeding Station at Aberystwyth University, supporting the plant breeding programmes and gaining worldwide marketing rights for the varieties of forage and turf species produced by the programmes.
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2002 – Germinal Holdings takes a shareholding in Peter Cates Ltd (now Cates), a leading grain and seed production business based in Canterbury, New Zealand.
2003 – Germinal New Zealand is formed to develop and market Germinal Holdings’ varieties in the New Zealand market.
British Seed Houses expands its footprint and warehousing capacity at its Lincoln site, consolidating production and distribution operations.
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British Seed Houses and Samuel McCausland Ltd are rebranded as Germinal GB and Germinal NI respectively, joining Germinal Ireland and Germinal New Zealand under the Germinal banner.
Warehouse capacity further expanded at the Lincoln site in GB and the Rakaia site in New Zealand.
The installation of fully automatic packing lines at both Germinal GB and Germinal Ireland dramatically increases capacity and speed of service.
Launch of The Grass People ecommerce brand in 2017.
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Renegotiation of the contract with Aberystwyth University leads to the team of plant breeders and field staff being directly employed by the Germinal Group and embedded at the University.
The R&D team is rebranded as Germinal Horizon and is based at Aberystwyth (Wales), Wiltshire (England) and Canterbury (New Zealand). 20% of the company’s employees are now engaged in R&D.
Purchase of an 8Ha block of land for use as a plant breeding, trials and product development site near Lincoln, New Zealand.
The launch of two more ecommerce brands, iCANLAWN.com and Birdkind.
Further expansion of warehouse capacity at Germinal GB, to service growing demand from ecommerce.
Relocation of head office to Belfast after 50 years.
Renaming of the Holding company as Openfolde, to differentiate it from the Germinal brand and to better reflect its entrepreneurial nature and interest in new ventures and opportunities.
The Openfolde Group now consists of Germinal GB, Germinal Ireland, Germinal New Zealand, Germinal Horizon, Cates, The Grass People, icanlawn.com and Birdkind.
