Sakata’s 40th Anniversary Celebration Grows

June 21 marked the date of Sakata Seed America’s 40th Anniversary and the opening of its doors in a little office in downtown San Francisco in 1977.

Since then, Sakata has grown in all areas including crop segments, staff and infrastructure. To recognize this achievement, a Japanese-inspired Founder’s Day luncheon took place at the Morgan Hill headquarters on June 21, to commemorate the day and acknowledge Sakata staff. 

Earlier this year, Sakata announced its “40 Acts of Kindness” initiative, intended to honor this milestone by strengthening its commitment to social responsibility and working with 40 charitable organizations in 2017.

A major example being 40 Days of Summer Giving, in which Sakata has partnered with American Floral Endowment to match dollar-for-dollar donations up to $10,000!  All donations go toward the support of floriculture programs and Sakata’s goal is to reach $20,000 between July 10 and August 8 – 40 full days of giving!

In addition, Sakata is supporting the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge with its goal to register a million public and private gardens and landscapes to support pollinators. This campaign, led by AmericanHort, directs donations towards stewardship programs, funding research and spreading the buzz about pollinators to the horticulture community.

Sakata also is supporting and participating in Petal It Forward this October 11. The program was established by Society of American Florists and saw great success in its first year, randomly surprising people in 234 cities in 50 states across the US with flowers. Each unknowing person is gifted two bunches of flowers, one to keep for themselves, and one to give away to someone else. You just may find Sakata staff on the streets of Morgan Hill and Salinas, California, spreading kindness and adding beauty to someone’s day!

Sakata also released a new 40th Anniversary video, which illustrates the company’s expansion of infrastructure over the last 40 years and exciting plans for the future.

“The new video shows where we started and how far we’ve come. Forty years is a very exciting accomplishment, but it’s just a stepping stone toward a bigger future. In the next 40 years, we will continue to expand our business while maintaining the same quality, reliability and service for which Sakata is known,” said John Nelson, sales and marketing director.

To learn more about Sakata’s 40^th Anniversary achievements and future plans, visit Sakata at Cultivate 2017 booth, #0425, July 16 –18, in Columbus, Ohio.