Our Story
We are a seed company grounded in the notion that deliciousness might just change the world. A seed company built by chefs and breeders striving to make ingredients taste better before they ever hit a plate.
It’s a collaboration—a cross-pollination—based on a simple premise: we believe flavor can succeed where commodification has failed. That it can change how we eat and, in turn, how we grow.
So if you’re a chef, a breeder, a farmer, a gardener, an eater, an enthusiast or maybe some combination of those things, then there’s a seat at the table here for you, and space in the rows and on the line.
It’s a work in progress, but for ten thousand years or so, vegetables always have been. Flavor is never finished. And we’re just getting started.
— The Row 7 Team
Sowing Change
A RECIPE FROM THE GROUND UP
Long before a cookbook is cracked—even before farmers sow their fields—the plant breeder writes a recipe for our ingredients. The problem? Flavor isn’t usually on the list. Too often, breeders are asked to select for yield, shelf life and uniformity at the expense of good food, nutrition and our environment. What if, instead, we started with what’s delicious?
Our Roots
ONE LITTLE SQUASH
STARTED IT ALL
Seven years ago—almost by accident—chef Dan Barber challenged vegetable breeder Michael Mazourek to build a better butternut squash. For Michael, it was the first time that someone had asked him to breed for flavor. For Dan, it was the discovery of a new kind of recipe—one that begins with the seed.
Our Collaborators
CHEFS + BREEDERS
Created by chef Dan Barber, breeder Michael Mazourek, and seedsman Matthew Goldfarb, Row 7 aspires to grow far beyond our founders. We work in the field and kitchen alongside chefs, breeders, growers and eaters who share our mission to reimagine food from the ground up.
Learn more about our community
OUR SEEDS
FLAVOR ISN’T THE
ONLY THING THAT
SETS US APART
Every single seed we sell is:
— Certified organic
— Non-GMO
— Unpatented
— Produced in the U.S.
Flavor = Nutrition
GOOD HEALTH BY WAY
OF GOOD EATING
Think: potatoes so creamy you don’t need butter. A squash so packed with flavor, it doesn’t require maple syrup to make it delicious. And, it turns out, when you select for flavor, you’re most likely selecting for nutrition, too. Flavor and aroma compounds—the same ones that make tomatoes so mouthwatering—often derive from essential nutrients. It’s nature’s way of telling us what we should be eating.
The Scale of Deliciousness
FLAVOR FOR ALL
Vegetable seeds come in small packets, but our ambition is to create big changes in how we eat and in turn how we grow. Tastier food, healthier soil, more diverse and nutritious diets for as many people as possible. In other words, a revolution we can all get behind.