Crop Innovation: Winter-Sown Mustard Seed
Condimentum’s continued commitment to crop innovation has led to major progress in the development of winter-sown mustard varieties. strengthening supply resilience and reinforcing the company’s position as a leader in British mustard production.
The journey began with learnings from French growers, who routinely overwinter their Brassica Juncea (dark husk) mustard. Inspired by their approach, Condimentum trialed winter sowing with oriental mustard varieties in the UK. By carefully timing sowing to the second week of September, growers were able to manage plant development and ensure crops entered winter as a flat rosette, avoiding stem elongation and improving survival.
The success of these trials encouraged the team to explore winter sowing for yellow mustard, an area where Condimentum is now pioneering. Early yellow mustard varieties lacked frost tolerance, but within the well‑known “Gedney” family of seeds, several naturally showed stronger resilience. Working with plant breeder Elsoms, these traits were strengthened through targeted breeding and accelerated greenhouse generation cycles.
This collaborative effort led to the development of Guthrie, a more frost‑tolerant yellow mustard variety now grown in UK fields. While Guthrie represents a major step forward, prolonged extreme cold can still pose challenges, and breeding work continues to improve hardiness further.
This year, a new experimental variety - building on Guthrie’s genetics - is already in field trials. Early performance is promising, and Condimentum is optimistic about bringing this next‑generation mustard into commercial production soon.
A Key Point of Difference Vs. other Global Producers
Condimentum’s ability to overwinter mustard sets the business apart from major growing regions such as Canada and Ukraine, where winters are far too harsh for mustard crops to survive. As a result, growers in those climates must rely exclusively on spring sowing.
“This capability is a real point of difference for Condimentum and for British mustard production,” said Jonathan Mason, Head of Commercial at Condimentum. “Being able to overwinter our crops gives us far greater control over development, supports yield stability, and strengthens the reliability of the UK’s home‑grown mustard supply. It’s a significant competitive advantage and a testament to the innovation happening within our grower and breeding partnerships.”
If you would like to find out more about how Condimentum can strengthen the resilience of your supply chain contact us today.
