One of G2's start-up strategies is the idea that confidential contract research --- a business model with which we have deep experience --- might also work in the product development cycles of ornamental plants. Stated as a question, is contract plant breeding a workable business?
Plant breeding, as much as we breeders want to make it seem like an art, is really a rather simple science. It is not rocket science, nor is it brain surgery. And as a science, plant breeding is a methodical series of processes. You can then break each process down into its component steps, and when you do this, there are some rather obvious opportunities to outsource some of those steps.
For example, every breeding company has resource limitations. There are more tasks on the to-do list than internal resources can ever hope to accomplish. Even after trimming and prioritizing, the lists are still too long. At this point, outsourcing some of the more routine tasks should be considered. Let's imagine that internal greenhouse space is limiting during the winter, yet there are more lines to move forward than internal space will permit.
So what can you do?
You can simply stall some of the projects until bench space opens up in 3 or 4 months. That's fine, unless your product development cycles have no sense of urgency. Otherwise, you can outsource some of the "rough breeding" to a contractor like G2, and allow us to use OUR greenhouse capacity to help you meet your development timelines. Making breeding sized-quantities of F4 seed from F3 families is a relatively straightforward task that does not necessarily need to require your highly compensated plant breeder's hands-on attention. Surely you could more productively use that breeder's time creating new products.
Other contract breeding opportunities occur as well. Every breeding program tends to be self-perpetuating. Once a program is begun, there is a tendency to continue to use those lines already developed, rather than "going backwards" and incorporating truly novel sources of genetic variation. Bringing in "fresh blood" slows down short-term product development, despite the reality that over the long-term, more progress is likely to be made when the gene pool is refreshed by the addition of new germplasm.
Why not outsource that slow and repetitive "re-freshening" process, and allow G2 to incorporate that new germplasm for you? Your breeders stay focused on new product development; our breeders do the rough work. We return advanced lines to you ready to be crossed directly into your development programs.
You might also think even further outside of the box. Have you considered what it might take for your customers to be able to "bench-run" your entire Calibrachoa line? All of the colors would need to be evenly matched in habit, bloom time, and overall performance. To meet this goal, you would need to mix all of the colors into a common genetic background, and then re-select a set of matched colors. This is a years-long project --- and as such, this is an ideal opportunity for outsourcing. G2 can work in parallel with your breeders, doing the early and rough breeding under contract, then passing the advanced matched lines to your team for final selection and finish breeding.
And you would do this with significantly less investment in facilities. You could keep your core facilities focused and compact, while using an outsourced resource like G2 for this kind of overflow / long-term development activity.
Contract breeding is quite simple. You send G2 your current germplasm. We work together with you to move it towards your breeding objectives. We return the improved germplasm to your breeding team for final selection. In a nutshell, that is how contract breeding works at G2.
