Sakata Partners With Kientzler in Guatemala Cutting Farm

Chris Beytes

Sakata (AKA Sakata America Holding Company, Inc.) announced the formation of a new company called Tikal LLC, a joint venture with the Kientzler family of Germany. Tikal will operate a young plant farm in Guatemala under the name Innovaplant de Guatemala S.A. that will make it a sister company of Kientzler’s other Innovaplant ventures in Costa Rica and in Germany (where they produce elite stock for the off-shore farms).

Kientzler had announced the new farm at CAST 2025, where they display in a section of Sakata’s greenhouse. They said they’d acquired a 45-hectare (108-acre) farm in Jalapa, Guatemala, formerly owned by Monsanto, and that they were going to start out with 2 acres of state-of-the-art pilot greenhouse. But no mention then of the partnership with Sakata. Either they still had details to work out or the idea of buying into the farm came later.

Either way, Sakata is now a partner in the Innovaplant venture (no word on percentages of ownership), and they say this marks “a significant expansion of Sakata’s footprint and long-term investment in North American ornamental young plant production.”

Byron Calderon, a veteran of The Ecke Ranch’s Guatemala farm, has been appointed general manager.

“This investment represents a significant milestone for our company, contributing to our long-term vision in the horticulture industry,” said Dave Armstrong, Executive Chairman of Sakata Seed America.

Added Andreas Kientzler, president of Kientzler, “We are excited to combine our expertise and resources with Sakata to drive innovation and excellence in the supply of great young plants to the industry.” GT