Business update: Major poultry investments
New acquisitions, products, and investments have been launched on to the international poultry sector recently. Where is the action and what is there to look out for? This concise overview gets you up to date.
Cargill invests $50 million in Thai poultry processing operation
Cargill is investing $50 million to expand its poultry processing operations at its facility located in the Nakhon Ratchasima province in Thailand. The expansion will create 1,400 new jobs and add to the more than 13,500 employees that the company currently employs across 14 locations in the country. Cargill will engage several independent smallholder broiler farms in the local community to meet the increase demand in broiler chicken.
The expansion is due to an increase in customer demand and strong customer confidence in the high quality and safety standards of the chicken products produced by Cargill in Thailand. A new building annexed to the current facility began construction on October 21, 2016 and is expected to start operating in the first quarter of 2018.
Largest layer hatchery in Latin America in the making
With the capacity to produce 600,000 day old female layers per week, a new facility – located in Mexico – will be one of the largest layer hatcheries in Latin America and fully operational by the second quarter of 2017. A massive investment, including an integrated hatchery solution from Pas Reform is putting leading Latin American hatchery Proan (Proteína Animal) firmly on the map as one of the largest single-stage incubation layer hatcheries in the world.
Pas Reform’s project team has designed the entire hatchery layout and provided detailed plans for hot- and cold-water plumbing and drainage systems and the hatchery’s complete ventilation system. Installation will include Pas Reform’s fully automated transfer and candling equipment, sexing and vaccination carousels, chick counters, tippers and a vacuum waste disposal system. The hatchery, which is intended to supply all of Proan’s needs for day old pullets, will be listed as one of the world’s largest layer hatcheries, with the capacity to produce 6 hatches of 100,000 layer pullets every week. “This is virtually a turnkey project,” explains Ranulfo Ortiz, Pas Reform’s business development manager in Latin America.
Trouw Nutrition launches global validation programme
Trouw Nutrition has launched a global validation programme to demonstrate the effectiveness of its nutritional solutions in different geographies and market places. Validation centres have been established on 5 continents, where Trouw Nutrition R&D is collaborating with leading universities and regional science partners. The validation of products in regional markets is important to accelerate the transfer of best practices from one market to the other. The initial focus of the programme is on feed additives, animal health supporting products and young animal feed.
“We develop new products, models and service tools at our global research centres. But a proof of concept is important. Application knowledge taking into account local conditions, such as climate and farming practices, is a critical success factor of many innovations we develop,” says Leo den Hartog, director Trouw Nutrition R&D. The validation teams are based in Asia-Pacific, Brazil, China, Europe and North America.
Cobb-Vantress celebrates centennial at Central America poultry congress
The centennial year celebrations of Cobb continued during the 24th biennial Central America & Caribbean Poultry Congress in Antigua, Guatemala, where along with other poultry companies, Cobb welcomed almost 1200 participants from all over the region for the 3-day congress.
Trevor Gies, Cobb senior marketing manager for North America, looked to the future. “As we begin to wrap up our centennial year, we wanted to show our customers in Central America that we are investing and preparing for tomorrow’s needs,” he said. “Central America is an important market for our business and we see the value in investing in events like this that allow us to interact with our customers as well as showing our support of the region’s poultry industry.”
DSM launches new YolkFan at EuroTier 2016
During EuroTier, DSM launched the Digital YolkFan colour sensor, a digital extension of the 16 blade DSM YolkFan designed in collaboration with Nix Sensor, an expert in developing handheld wireless colour sensor devices. The innovative design of the Digital YolkFanTM specifically allows fast, objective yolk colour measurement with extreme accuracy within the 16 yolk colours of the DSM YolkFan, the company states.
“Farmers and egg producers need to adapt to the latest consumer preferences for a golden yolk and this requires the right support and innovative tools,” said Rual Lopez-Ulibarri, Innovation Project Director at DSM Nutritional Products. “The Digital YolkFan colour sensor is a highly sensitive, user-friendly wireless device that brings easier data management capabilities to farmers looking to produce a consistent yolk colour to meet consumers’ expectations.”
Nuscience a new solution to lift health in broilers
Nuscience, the specialty division of the Royal Agrifirm Group, is launching a brand new solution developed to optimise broiler performance and the economical result. The Nuscience R&D department screened multiple phytogenic compounds and tested them in several blends with medium chain fatty acids (MCFA). M-prove Poultry is a product combining MCFA with phytogenics. The complementary mode of action of both active ingredients results in a synergistic effect.
This new product is the next step in Nuscience’s innovative character and development of quality products, combining MCFA’s with other additives. This product shows especially that the sky of the genetic potential is not reached and that by lifting the health status of the animals, it is possible to optimise profits even more than ever before.
