PHOTO: FABIAN BROCKÖTTER
INTERVIEW ▶▶▶
And what does convince customers? “We are always happy to explain and discuss our way of doing things with customers, for example we are very open in showing and ex- plaining our innovative breeding programme. We have been able to demonstrate that our birds are the best in different climates, circum- stances and system of production. For a better selection on behav- iour, from 2008 onwards we select in groups (first in cage and now both in cage and floor) instead of in individual cages and do sib-test- ing under real life conditions. And we listen to what our customers want, because that is the only thing that really matters.”
“In genetics you are
never finished, there will always be a ‘next level’ of improvement.”
What was the biggest challenge in the last year? “Hubbard wasn’t sold out of luxury. Frederic Grimaud tried to find the best solution in a situation of turbulence. Hubbard was located in France, Poland, US and Brazil and struggled with export restric- tions due to Avian Influenza. After the sale of Hubbard, Novogen had to create its own subsidiaries in the US and Brazil. We now have 3 production centres, ensuring our position as a truly global player. It totally fits our philosophy outlined years ago; going global is the only way a genetics company can thrive.”
12 ▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 1, 2019
What lies ahead for Novogen? Moving forward genetic improvement will remain key, but human relationships are at least as important. In our five year business plan called ‘Project 2022’ customers are at the centre. We want to be as close as possible to our customers as there is a close relationship be- tween the user of our genetics and the final product we deliver. On the other hand, if you are not close to the market, you will miss the customers’ demands. We did a great job to get a market position and quality in the last ten years, we are confident we can build upon this solid basis. A lot has been achieved in the past decade, but there is still a lot to do!”
What does that mean for the all-important genetics component? As with any layer breeding programme, we see a constant genetic improvement on production traits (persistency, egg quality, feed ef- ficiency…). But, as you know, there are many other traits that are im- portant in order to answer our customers’ requests: behaviour, envi- ronment adaptability... Our cage free system programme allows us to select new traits at time of lay, time inside the nest, preventing floor eggs... Also we are taking into consideration correlations be- tween those new traits and performances at the end of laying cycle (persistency and egg quality). On the other hand, the use of genomic accelerates our annual genetic progress by reducing generation interval and increasing selection intensity. In genetics you are never finished, there will always be a ‘next level’ of improvement, but we are proud we are proposing a competitive and performant product in many fields and we are a real reference in alternative housing systems. A trend that is going strong in many areas.”
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