Feb 18, 2022

PanAmerican Seed to Celebrate 75th Anniversary in 2022

This year, PanAmerican Seed will celebrate its 75th anniversary — spanning decades of innovations in the world of seed through dedication and long-term, solutions-driven teamwork.

Throughout 2022, to mark this momentous occasion, PanAmerican Seed will share a historical look back through a video timeline, as well as share memories through blogs and social media posts of several groundbreaking product introductions and other milestones developed by the company and its plant breeders over the years.

“Reaching our 75th Anniversary is truly a team effort and one that wouldn’t be possible without our customers and colleagues,” says Anne Leventry, president of PanAmerican Seed. “So often we focus on the future and the next big accomplishment that it feels quite rewarding to take a moment to look back at all that’s come before and the impact it’s had on the industry. We’re thrilled to celebrate our past and take this company into the next age of seed development.”

Here are just a few of the company’s highlights:

• PanAmerican Seed Co. began in 1946 in Paonia, Colorado, as an idea of industry pioneers Claude Hope, Bob Holley and Charlie Weddle. Double petunias, begonias and snapdragons starred in the initial assortment; the Costa Rica production facility broke ground in the 1950s.
• The company joined Ball Horticultural Co. in 1962; by 1969, the introduction of  the Elfin impatiens forever changes bedding plant sales across the globe. The series is improved in 1980 with Super Elfin  – the best-selling impatiens in their class.
• The PanAmerican Seed Elburn, Illinois facility opened, and development continued through the 1970s and 1980s.
• More revolutionary plants emerged in the 1990s, such as award-winning Wave Petunias and Dragon Wing Begonias.
• In the early 2000s, Waller genetics brought Sorbet violas and Pacifica vincas into the assortment; the Kieft Seed acquisition in 2009 expanded the perennial category.
• The introduction of the HandPicked Vegetables Collection in 2015 amplified efforts to sell vegetables and herbs for both home garden and fresh market growers.
• Beacon Impatiens launched and brought disease resistant I. walleriana back to shade gardens worldwide in 2019.
• In 2021, the Artisan Collection of echinacea becomes the first F1 hybrid seed echinacea of individual colors, further diversifying PanAmerican Seed’s innovative portfolio in perennials and seed technologies.

Visit www.PanAmSeed.com for the full walk down memory lane and to explore the products and milestones that have left their mark over the past 75 years.