Our history

Incotec launches the first new-generation microplastic-free film coats. These two new Disco film coats (Blue L-1501 and Purple L-1601) are for sunflower.

Incotec proudly celebrates an anniversary and 50 years of seed enhancement in a year of celebrations for customers and personnel.

Incotec inaugurated a fully modernized and automated manufacturing facility in Salinas, including a new R&D lab, offices, a new seed room and production equipment

New facilities for pelleting and encrusting are operational to expand Incotec’s capacity in Tianjin as well as a new office and new R&D centre in Bejing.

With several chemical, biological and analytical laboratories for molecular and microbiological research, application labs as well as a number of climate chambers and phytotrons, R&D, together with Sales and Marketing teams work in close collaboration on market-focused and ground-breaking innovations in seed enhancements.

Incotec joined the Croda group as part of their Life Sciences business. Combining Croda’s formulation know-how with Incotec’s expertise in seed enhancement creates a broad scope of development.

Due to Incotec’s strong growing business in Argentina a subsidiary is started in Buenos Aires to better serve the market, focus is on the production and sale of sophisticated coatings for large acre crops to the local seed industry.

Incotec Malaysia started as a sales office introducing innovative seed improvement techniques for crops such as rice and corn as well as vegetables to the rapidly growing Southeast Asian market.

With the acquisition of Landec Ag LLC (a developer and producer of functionalized polymer coatings for the seed industry) Incotec focuses on its increasing presence in field crops in North America.

The acquisition of AgriCoat, LLC, a specialized California seed technology company with a strong position in the organic market complements Incotec's strategic direction.

As producer of seed improvement and analysis techniques and of advanced coatings for seed, Incotec is acclaimed to be the most innovative and competitive organisation in the Netherlands, based on the results of the annual Erasmus Competition and Innovation Monitor which observes 10,000 Dutch organisations.

The first commercial upgrading treatment based on the principle of X-ray imaging became available.

Incotec South Africa officially announced its presence in Africa when it opened its premises in Pietermaritzburg, developing business into sub-Saharan Africa.

Proteios International became member of the Incotec Group, providing Heubach testing and a range of analytical services to the seed industry, including HPLC loading analysis on seed batches, genetic quality control and breeding assistance using molecular markers and DNA analyses for e.g. identification of disease resistance, GMO-testing and variety identification.

Incotec China was established in 2005 and initially focused on the sale of film coats for the field crops market.

Incotec Australia started in 2004, offering a range of seed technologies and enhancement products to provide the Australian seed market.

Incotec India started pioneering the Central Asian market by introducing film coating and analytical services to the seed industry.

The management of Incotec International acquired, through a so-called Management Buy Out, the enterprise from Seminis Vegetable Seeds, providing the company the opportunity to carry on growing on its own.

Growing popularity of Incotec’s upgrading and pelleting techniques in Brazil, combined with stricter and more complicated import procedures resulted in setting up an Incotec branch in Brazil.

Incotec Japan started initially to meet the demand from Japanese seed companies, who did not want to send their seed to Europe.

To demonstrate that Incotec worked systematically and carefully, Incotec focused on working according to the principle of Total Quality Management (TQM), which was rewarded in 1996 with obtaining the ISO 9001 certificate.

Royal Sluis’s pelleting department became an independent Limited Company with the name ‘Incotec’; formed from a description of its activities, integrated coating and seed technology.

Incotec’s first production facility was started in Salinas, California as a pelleting department from - then named - Royal Sluis America.

Extensive research led to the development of priming techniques, controlling the germination process, resulting in faster, more evenly germinating seeds at the same time even when the conditions are unfavourable.

David Dirkse, a former pharmacist, joined the company Gebroeders Sluis in 1968 after a long period of research in pelleting seeds. A pelleting department was started in Enkhuizen, and the same year the first Lettuce pellet ‘Split Pill®’ was commercially introduced to the market.