Best Seed Supplier (2015)

Sakata Seed Corporation

105 Boronda Road, Salinas

(831) 758-0505 www.sakatavegetables.com

This global company has been around for a century, and although it’s headquartered in its hometown of Yokohama, Japan, it’s a big part of the Salinas Valley ag ecosystem. Eat a piece of broccoli anywhere in the world, and there’s about a 70-percent chance that the seed for that broccoli originated with Sakata, a breeder and wholesaler. It’s only fitting that Sakata celebrated its 100th birthday last year by introducing a new broccoli variety called Centennial, which grows year-round in cool, coastal regions like the Salinas Valley, and offers more crown, less stem. Longevity helps when it comes to being the best, and so does variety: Sakata breeds dozens of vegetable and flower varieties.