Burpee Has a New Owner in Its 150th Year, and It's Staying in Bucks County
Bucks Co. & Beyond Daily
Bucks Co. & Beyond Daily
by Nick Rau
If you've ever started tomatoes from a seed packet, you may well have held a little piece of Bucks County history. On Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, California-based Central Garden & Pet announced that it has acquired W. Atlee Burpee Co., the seed and garden company founded in Philadelphia in 1876 and headquartered today in Warminster. The best part for those of us who live here is in the details: Burpee will operate as a separate company, stay headquartered in Pennsylvania and keep CEO Jamie Mattikow in charge, according to Central's announcement.
The deal closed on Sept. 30, 2026, right in the middle of Burpee's 150th anniversary year, and financial terms were not disclosed. Burpee had been owned since 1991 by George Ball, now its former owner and executive chair, and BUCKSCO.Today reported that he made it a priority to find a buyer that would preserve the company's identity and heritage. So instead of a farewell, this reads more like a 150th birthday present: a bigger partner with national reach, and a promise that the company stays put.
Central Garden & Pet, based in Walnut Creek, California, is a major consumer goods company in the pet and garden business, with fiscal 2025 net sales of $3.1 billion and more than 6,000 employees, mostly in North America. Its garden lineup already includes names like Pennington and Ferry-Morse, and its CEO, Niko Lahanas, called Burpee "an iconic American brand with a remarkable 150-year legacy of innovation, quality and consumer trust." Central said Burpee's leadership team will keep running the business and that it sees real room to build on Burpee's foundation with its own scale. Mattikow, for his part, told The Philadelphia Inquirer in an email that "the Burpee team and I are excited about the news," and said the new owner brings resources to help the company grow faster and create opportunities for its employees.
"Burpee is an unmatched, beloved brand in home gardening, and my goal in this transaction was to find it a home that would be a strong steward of that legacy," said George Ball, Burpee's former owner and executive chair.
The company started much smaller than its household name suggests. In 1876, an 18-year-old Washington Atlee Burpee launched a mail-order business in Philadelphia selling poultry and livestock, and seeds soon took over, BUCKSCO.Today reported. His catalogs became a staple in American homes, and the varieties the company developed still fill backyard gardens, including Iceberg lettuce, Golden Bantam sweet corn and the Big Boy tomato, which Burpee calls the most popular tomato ever bred. Bucks County entered the story in 1888, when Burpee bought a farm on New Britain Road in Doylestown, named it Fordhook and turned it into the company's experimental garden, where it ran thousands of seed trials. Burpee still calls Fordhook its historic home and uses it as a trial ground for new varieties, according to the company.
Burpee also arrives at its new owner on a growth streak: consumers spent $242 million on Burpee products in 2025, a 120% jump from 2019, Mattikow told the Inquirer in an earlier interview. A parent company with Central's retail reach could help that number keep climbing, for a business that has called the Philadelphia area home for a century and a half. What we don't know yet is whether anything changes day to day in Warminster or at Fordhook, since Central hasn't announced plans beyond keeping Burpee independent, and the company says it will share more on its fiscal fourth-quarter and year-end earnings call.
By the numbers: founded in 1876 · Fordhook Farm in Doylestown since 1888 · deal closed Sept. 30, 2026, announced Oct. 19 · $242 million in consumer spending on Burpee products in 2025, up 120% from 2019, per the Inquirer · Central Garden & Pet: $3.1 billion in fiscal 2025 net sales.
Who bought Burpee seeds?
Central Garden & Pet, a pet and garden company based in Walnut Creek, California, acquired W. Atlee Burpee Co. The deal closed on Sept. 30, 2026, and was announced on Oct. 19, 2026. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Is Burpee leaving Pennsylvania?
No. Central Garden & Pet says Burpee will operate as a separate company and remain headquartered in Pennsylvania, and CEO Jamie Mattikow will continue to lead it. Burpee's headquarters is in Warminster, Bucks County.
Where is Burpee's Fordhook Farm?
Fordhook Farm is on New Britain Road in Doylestown, Bucks County. Burpee bought it in 1888 as its experimental seed-trial garden, and the company still uses it as a trial ground for new varieties.
Burpee's story runs through two corners of the county I love, so if you're curious what it's like to live near its headquarters or its farm, start with my Warminster town guide and my Doylestown town guide, or browse all of my Bucks County town guides.
I'd guess plenty of Bucks County gardens have grown something from a Burpee packet, and I love that a 150-year-old local name is getting a bigger partner without packing up and leaving. I'm Nick Rau, President of Sales with the Rarity Real Estate Team, ranked in the Top 1% of agents nationally (RealTrends 2025, individual), with more than 135 Google reviews, and I live right here in Bucks County.
Rarity Real Estate Team, 1100 N Delaware Ave Suite A, Philadelphia, PA 19125 · (215) 593-7498 · [email protected]
Questions about living in Warminster or Doylestown? Call (215) 593-7498 or email [email protected].
Blog · Google · Zillow · Instagram @nickraure · Facebook · LinkedIn · X · Threads
File photo (2010) of a historic building at Burpee's Fordhook Farm in Doylestown Township. Photo (cropped): Jerrye & Roy Klotz MD, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources: Central Garden & Pet, "Central Garden & Pet Acquires Burpee, an Iconic Brand in the Packet Seed and Young Plant Categories," Oct. 19, 2026 (deal closed Sept. 30; separate entity; Pennsylvania headquarters; Mattikow stays; Lahanas and Ball quotes; Central's fiscal 2025 net sales and employees; Big Boy and Iceberg; earnings call); The Philadelphia Inquirer, Frank Kummer, "Burpee, a 150-year-old Philadelphia area institution, has been sold," Oct. 19, 2026 (Warminster headquarters; Fordhook Farm on New Britain Road, bought 1888; Ball bought Burpee in 1991; Pennington and Ferry-Morse; seed varieties; $242 million in 2025, up 120% from 2019; Mattikow email); BUCKSCO.Today, "Burpee Sold: Historic Seed Company Acquired by Central Garden & Pet," Oct. 21, 2026 (founder's age and first business; 1888, Golden Bantam; Ball's priority in the sale; 150th anniversary year; terms not disclosed); Burpee, About Us.
Want an agent who'll really listen to what you want in a home? Need an agent who knows how to effectively market your home so it sells? Give me a call! I'm eager to help and would love to talk to you.
