Netafim

From Blass's dripper to a factory at Hatzerim

Netafim was founded in 1965 at Kibbutz Hatzerim, through a business partnership with Simcha Blass and his son Yeshayahu, who had developed drippers and irrigation systems. The kibbutz was looking for an industrial activity connected to agriculture, and Blass was looking for a partner to commercialize his invention. In an interview with Globes, Uri Werber, Netafim's entrepreneur and first manager, described the negotiations and the agreement signed in August 1965. According to Nati Barak's account in Irrigation Leader, production of drippers and drip lines began in January 1966. The company's products were first sold to farmers in Israel, including wine-grape growers, and later abroad as well.

Milestone: commercial drip irrigation on a global scale

In 1966 Netafim began producing its first dripper line, the Inline Laminar Dripper, a dripper built into the pipe; according to the company's heritage website and its sustainability report, it was the world's first commercial dripper. The dripper delivers water in small amounts close to the plant's roots, through flow passages that regulate the flow rate. The slow flow is created in a plastic device attached to the irrigation pipe. Netafim turned Blass's invention into a practical system that could be manufactured on an industrial scale and installed in the field, and from there the method spread to farmers around the world.

Production, partners and new markets

According to the company's report, Kibbutz Magal joined the business in 1974 and Kibbutz Yiftah in 1979, to expand resources and production capacity. In 1981 Netafim's first subsidiary outside Israel was set up in the United States; Netafim's US headquarters is in Fresno, California. Nati Barak describes a shift from working with advanced farmers and high-value crops to also serving developing markets and staple food crops. The company expanded beyond selling pipe and drippers: its solutions include agronomic support, system design for orchards and greenhouses, and support for setting up and running projects. The main crops mentioned in the interview include corn, sugarcane, potatoes, cassava and soybeans.

Control passes to Mexichem

In 2011 the Permira fund bought 61% of Netafim, according to the company's sustainability report. In August 2017 a deal was announced in which the Mexican company Mexichem would buy 80% of Netafim's shares for about $1.5 billion. On 7 February 2018 Mexichem announced it had completed the acquisition, after receiving the approvals and meeting the deal's conditions, at a total enterprise value of $1.895 billion. Kibbutz Hatzerim kept 20% of the ownership. Mexichem is now called Orbia, and Netafim continues to operate within its group.

Legacy

Netafim's technology kept developing after the first dripper. The company's report records its collaboration with the inventor Rafi Mehoudar in developing drippers that deliver an even flow under varying water and pressure conditions. The Irrigation Leader interview also describes the use of digital tools that help farmers make irrigation decisions. The legacy is an ongoing combination of a mechanical component, agronomic knowledge and system design in the field. It lives on both in manufacturing in Israel and in the use of drip irrigation in many countries and crops, far beyond the farming from which the company grew at Hatzerim.