INTERVIEW ▶▶▶ Thomas Muurmann Henriksen
“Pig farms grow and so will we”
In terms of organisation, the Danish pig breeding sector is reinventing itself. Thomas Muurmann Henriksen is CEO of DanBred. He says, “We simply don’t have another choice. We have to reorganise ourselves.”
BY KEES VAN DOOREN, REPORTER, BOERDERIJ T
he reorganisation of the Danish swine breeding organi- sation DanBred has formally been finalised. Neverthe- less, the Danish still have a lot of work ahead of them before the ultimate goal will be reached: a versatile
sales and advisory organisation that will be globally visible. Because of the reorganisation, however, the breeding company had to start at square one again. Their main office is in Herlev, a stone’s throw from the Danish capital Copenhagen.
Pig Progress: What is the status of the reorganisation at the moment? Thomas Muurmann Henriksen: “Most things will be arranged in the course of 2018. The Netherlands, Germany, France and Spain are among our most important European markets. In total we are active in about 40 countries worldwide. This is why it takes time to go through a process of reorganisation and do it well all over the world. In France, by the way, the new organisation is already completed.”
A reorganisation – what’s in it for pig producers? “These days, pig farmers expect more than just a supply of ge- netics. They require the highest possible profit from their pigs. To make the most of their swine, it is necessary that they get proper advice as well as coaching from us. In the old situation, our sales organisation was way too fragmented to offer advice and coaching. A substantial amount of the smaller agents and traders, which previously sold our sows, simply did not have the resources to supply advice to the end-users. Pig farms are growing and that’s what we are supposed to do as well. Competitors, like PIC, Topigs Norsvin or Genesus, have a
comparable organisational structure to the one we are currently developing. I project that, just like in the poultry business, in the future only a handful of breeding organisations will remain ac- tive in the swine business. To be among them means that we don’t have any other choice than to reorganise. Otherwise we will not stay in business.”
What will customers notice all over the world? “An increased service level as well as coaching. Those plans are only in the early stages at the moment. We cannot make general- ised advice for all customers across the globe. For instance, in Denmark or the Netherlands, the pig business is organised in a completely different way than in e.g. Asia. In addition, the level of knowledge is different from country to country. Hence, we have to create targeted services. At EuroTier in November this year, we will launch a digital education and instruction tool for customers. It is currently being tested in Denmark. This tool will be available in at least three languages.”
Is the DanBred sow that difficult to manage? “No, that’s not the case. With additional service and coaching we simply would like to demonstrate our commitment to customers. At the most important international markets, we would simply like to be strongly present and highly visible. Just like our competitors.”
The ever-growing litter size of sows, however, does increasingly require a lot of stockmanship, doesn’t it? “I don’t think so. We have been breeding for pig vitality for over 10 years – and that will continue to be an important characteris- tic. From 2015 to 2018, this aspect counts for 28% in our sow lines; on top of that, vitality is the most important breeding goal after feed conversion. We work with the so-called LP5 number;
▶ PIG PROGRESS | Volume 34, No. 6, 2018 13
PHOTO: KEES VAN DOOREN
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