Our history

The history of the seedstore began in 1922. With the support of her father Emile, Ms Lucienne Mailliet joined forces with her husband Mr André Lecouf to buy the vegetable, fodder and flower seeds business previously owned by Émile Pouppart at in La Fère, then a vibrant small town located in northeastern France, not so far from Reims.

In addition to retail sales at the store, they supplied local farmers with forage seeds and greatly expanded their assortment of vegetable seeds, which were in high demand at the time.

André Lecouf developed wholesale sales and became a supplier for neighboring seedstores in the Aisne and Picardy, which allowed Ets Lecouf-Mailliet to quickly reach a certain importance.

< André Lecouf 1896 – 1985

After the Second World War, their son Henri Lecouf, a horticultural engineer graduated from the Versailles school, joined the family company after having already worked for several well-established seed houses.

Drawing on his experience, he sets up production contracts to secure supply of vegetable seeds with independent growers or those united in cooperatives, particularly in the Romans-sur-Isère sector and of course in Anjou.

Looking for new markets to further develop the business, Henri Lecouf meets the head of the “Jardins du Cheminot” association, which provides allotment plots to railway employees and also suggests that they come together to buy seeds.

After tests at the departmental and then regional level, Ets Lecouf-Mailliet quickly established a lasting partnership with the Jardins du Cheminot on a national scale. A similar sales system is being developed with the EDF works council, and many other companies and associations throughout France, to provide gardeners with Elem seeds at low prices for their collective orders.

The company then grew considerably and hired several dozen employees specializing in hand-filling packets of vegetable seeds “with a spoon”. It must expand its premises which occupy several districts of the town of La Fère.

Under the leadership of Henri’s sister, Simone Lecouf, the process is mechanized with investment in several packaging machines to cope with production volumes which are becoming increasingly important.

The 1960s arrived during which Lecouf Mailliet seeds took on new momentum by making a specialty of supplying seeds sold in printed catalogs throughout France and part of Europe. This is still the main activity of our seed store today, with group orders from associations and works councils. The “30 Glorieuses” period of economic prosperity fosters a steady growth for the family business which employs nearly 50 people and achieves a turnover of 20 million francs at its peak.

Thanks to contracts signed in advance with seed producers and investment in an in-house printing press and quality control in their own laboratory, Lecouf-Mailliet & Co controls the entire production chain.

At the same time, the activity of the store and “Elem” seeds, the dedicated brand for group orders, continues with works councils and non-profit associations.

However, the practice of gardening has declined, unlike the post-war years when it was essential for food production. The rise of specialized distribution in garden centers and the plethora of offerings in ever-larger supermarkets is noticeably changing the provides for gardeners who have more and more possible options for purchasing seeds.

Faced with steadily declining volumes, contract production activity sees its economic interest dwindle and then gradually declines.

In 1977, Henri’s son, Claude Lecouf, joined the company and represented the 4th generation in the company, with his sister Fabienne providing commercial support. The distribution of garden and pet products to garden-centres and supermarkets in the region is becoming an increasingly important new activity and numerous commercial agreements are signed with manufacturers.

The Lecouf-Mailliet & Co establishments are then able to supply all the departments of specialized stores, going so far as to import terracotta pottery directly from Vietnam.

A team of 5 salespeople sell these products and vegetable and flower seeds under the own brand Tradi’Sem in all stores in the north-eastern quarter of France. New premises are built away from the city centre, Place de l’Islette, to accommodate these bulky products. The retail store remained open at its historic address until 1998.

However, at the turn of the 2000s, the market tightened significantly. The stores joined forces into purchasing centrals and foreign competition increased significantly: distribution to shops and the Tradi’Sem brand were then finally abandoned due to lack of profitability. The seed merchant then refocuses on its core business: the packaging of vegetable and flower seeds for the amateur garden.