Founder parent, which serves as type of the important germplasm resources, plays a pivotal role in update of new varieties. In the view of long-item breeding practices, the update of new varieties is tightly connected with the discovery, development and the effective utilization of founder parents in staple crops. Considering the significant contributions of founder parents in breeding, here we summarize the progress about founder parents in staple crops, which might provide insights on characterization, production contribution and genetic basis for founder parents, and which might propose the research directions and priorities in the future.