France: HZPC Builds Greenhouse for up to 2 Million Seed Potato Mini-Tubers
HZPC France has started building a greenhouse in Ruisseauville that should produce up to 2 million mini-tubers, the company says. The aim is full autonomy in early seed generations.
HZPC France has started to build a new greenhouse in Ruisseauville, in northern France. According to the company, the greenhouse will be able to produce up to 2 million mini-tubers per season. Mini-tubers are the first, very clean generation of seed potatoes. Growers multiply them in the field for several years before the seed reaches farmers.
The news was published on 28 September 2026 by PotatoPro, citing HZPC France. The construction company Melchior held the ground-breaking ceremony. The land belongs to Benoit Henguelle, a seedling producer who rents it to HZPC. The company did not give the investment amount or the date when the greenhouse will start to work.
The company says the project is part of HARMONY, a strategic programme of the Royal HZPC Group. One focus of this programme is technical support to produce quality seed in an increasingly restrictive production environment. HZPC France names three goals:
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- full autonomy in mini-tuber production, in addition to the mini-tubers that growers of the Comité Nord already produce;
- better seed quality, because fewer field generations are needed in the chain;
- faster reaction to the market, with more capacity and quicker supply of mini-tubers in France.
The project comes in a difficult year for the Dutch parent group. In May 2026 Royal HZPC said that its turnover for 2025/2026 would fall below 450 million euros, down from 525 million euros a year earlier, AGF.nl reported. EBITDA was expected at about 10 million euros, compared with 27 million euros in 2024/2025. At the same time, the group said it sells more than 1.1 million tonnes of seed potatoes worldwide. In September HZPC also said that it takes about 7 years to develop and test a new variety before large-scale growing.
Why it matters
A seed company that controls its own mini-tuber supply can start clean seed chains with fewer field years. Fewer years in the field usually means less time for viruses and other diseases to build up. For French seed growers who multiply HZPC varieties, this can mean more reliable starting material.
The investment also shows that large breeders keep spending on seed quality even when prices and profits are low. However, all details come from the company itself. There is no independent confirmation yet of the budget, the size of the greenhouse or the start date.
Photo: Potato tubers of a seed variety (illustrative). Sylvia Breslin, Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture / Wikimedia Commons, OGL 3
