Hubbard marks 100 year anniversary

Since Ira and Oliver Hubbard officially founded the Hubbard Farms company in 1921, a legacy was born. The poultry industry has seen remarkable changes over the past century, with dramatic results for the benefit of humankind. Hubbard has played and will continue to play a vital role in the poultry industry. From the early days onwards, the Hubbard family members quickly built up their reputation and business through smart and hard work, paying respect to their employees and customers, and continuously improving the quality of their chicks.

The evolution of markets’ and consumers’ demands engaged Hubbard Farms in keeping on the move despite the several economic and conjunctures we know. They adapted their breeding, keeping their traditional New Hampshire barred feather bird, to diversify and offer a white feather breed to meet a new market segment. Until the 1950s, the US was their main market, and international expansion started in the 1960s in Europe and then towards the rest of the world. At the time, Research & Development became their core business to ensure the company would keep moving forward whilst listening to market trends, customer needs, and consumer demands. In the decades that followed, their business whas characterised by great successes and some setbacks.

History in a nutshell

Oliver Hubbard’s graduation from the New Hampshire Agriculture College in 1921 can be seen as the beginning of Hubbard in the commercial poultry business. From 1921 up to the acquisition by Merck in 1974, Hubbard has always been a family company. In 1997, the company merged with the ISA-group from France, purely focusing on broiler breeding as from 2003, and in 2005, Hubbard was acquired by Groupe Grimaud (a French family group). In February 2018 Hubbard became a member of the Aviagen Group, of the German family group Erich Wesjohann Group (EWG), and continues to operate as an independent breeding company within the Aviagen Group.