New Hazera Crucifer R&D station

An artist's impression of the new Dutch site

Hazera has completed the move of its 80 million NIS (£14.4m) state of the art R&D centre in Israel.

The base in Berurim, which includes laboratories, breeding greenhouses and offices, took four years to complete.

Elsewhere, the company is investing in a new R&D centre for breeding Crucifer crops (brassicas and radish)in the Netherlands. The project is scheduled to be completed in fall 2017, at an investment of over€8m (£6.2m).

Rami Dar, CEO of Hazera, said: 'We are happy to have completed the process of improving the company's R&D infrastructure in Israel and uniting the great majority of the company's activities in Israel under one roof in Berurim.”

The company’s processing plant remains located in south Israel, Sderot.

“The new R&D centre contains all the very latest facilities and technologies in the field of breeding vegetable varieties, enabling Hazera to improve its new product development processes while attaining maximal efficiency.”

The new Dutch site, in Warmenhuizen, will be comprised of laboratories, greenhouses and offices and will provide the most advanced equipment in the industry for the breeding of varieties belonging to the Crucifer family.

It will replace Hazera's old R&D centre in nearby Tuitjenhorn.

Hazera currently employs approximately 900 employees worldwide, 400 of whom are based in Israel. About 30 per cent of the company's employees engage in research and development, and the business invests 17 per cent of its turnover in these activities.