who we are

Maxicrop was the very first seaweed extract to be marketed commercially.

While the use of seaweed dried on the seashore as a ‘fertiliser’ has been widely practiced by coastal farmers for centuries, it wasn’t until the late 1940’s that a young UK scientist Dr Reginald Milton started experimenting with the liquid extract from seaweed.

After some promising results, Dr Milton joined forces with Tony Stephenson to further test the product on horticultural crops. And, in 1950, the pair set up the first manufacturing facility in Slough. Two years later, Stephenson established Maxicrop in Northamptonshire.

Initially, Maxicrop was sold in the UK, primarily to market gardeners and fruit and glasshouse growers, and Milton was one of the first scientists to prove that plants could accept plant foods and other compounds through their leaves – pioneering the way for foliar nutrition.

During the 1970’s, Maxicrop products became more widely accepted across a range of plants in a range of sectors. Today, Maxicrop still holds a dominant position in many of these markets.

In 2002, Maxicrop was purchased by Italian company Valagro – one of the major suppliers of bio-stimulants, micronutrients and speciality fertilisers in the world.

Our sister company in Norway, called Algea, are specialist harvesters of seaweed and supply us with the raw materials for our bio-stimulants.

This strength in depth now provides us with cross-company expertise, which we anticipate will lead to the development and introduction of exciting new products.

Maxicrop Today

From 1st October 2017, SBM Life Science became responsible for the distribution and sale of product ranges developed by Maxicrop in the UK gardening market. Maxicrop (UK) Ltd is now called Valagro UK Ltd and will continue to supply product for professional use.

See also…
Valagro
Algea
SBM Life Science