Broilers & Broiler Chicken Info

More than 40 Cobb Germany colleagues, technicians, sales managers and veterinarians from 20 countries took part in the company’s 10th anniversary celebration at Baasdorf, the headquarters of it’s parent company the Wimex group, near Leipzig, Eastern Germany.

The initial target of Cobb Germany was to hatch 2.5 million Cobb 500 parents for nearby markets and production is heading towards 10 million.

Cobb’s latest technical advice on breeder and broiler management was presented at a technical symposium in Dessau prior to the celebration.

Cobb Germany was founded in 1998 with the first Cobb 500 parent chicks hatched at the Radefeld hatchery, near Leipzig, in November. Within four years output had grown to five million/year. In 2005 the Cobb Germany sales territory was expanded to more than 20 countries.

———————————————————-

Google Ads: Blogging jobs
———————————————————-

Aviagen recently teamed with the University of Alberta to present a three-day workshop at the university’s Poultry Research Centre in Edmonton. The course, “Managing the Modern Broiler Breeder,” was designed for people working in the broiler hatching egg industry and focused on maximizing the production of fertile eggs from broiler breeder flocks.

In addition to co-sponsoring the event, Aviagen also provided many of the speakers for the workshop.

According to Aviagen, one of the strengths of the event was that it was a hands-on workshop, not just a series of lectures. Farmers, industry representatives, speakers and graduate students donned protective clothing and participated in lab sessions on female evaluation, male evaluation and egg quality.

“As biosecurity programs become more restrictive and travel to farms becomes more costly and difficult, these types of events help us to bring vital management information to the largest number of people,” commented Scott Gillingham, Aviagen business manager in Canada. “This workshop also provides an opportunity for interaction between producers and other industry members and the transfer of knowledge and experience.”

Agrika intends to acquire Stavropolsky Broiler

Yesterday the company Agrika-Foods declared about its intention to acquire the Agros Group last agricultural asset Stavropolsky Broiler, one of the top ten largest poultry production plants in the Russian Federation. Agrika promised to pay about 126 million dollars for the asset. Agros officials haven’t commented the declaration yet, and market operators consider that taking into consideration the present unfavorable situation in the poultry industry this deal may be profitable for the present owner of Stavropolsky Broiler.

ОАО Agrika-Foods owns the following meat processing plants: NUMIK, Zatonsky, Bashmyaso, Cheboksarsky, Amros, Rzhevsky, as well as Cheboksarsky Broiler, Trade House Bashkirsky Product, Cheboksarsky Backery Plant. In 2007, the revenue under International Accounting Standards is expected to amount to 11.9 billion rubles; the profitability under EBITDA was 11.86 percent.

According to an Agrika message, the company is going to purchase 95 percent of shares of the Holding group Broiler Complex Investments, which owns 100 percent of shares of Stavropolsky Broiler, from ultimate beneficiary Venus Projects S.A. The total amount is expected to be about 126 million dollars. Within the frames of the deal, Agrika will carry out an audit at Broiler Complex Investments and Stavropolsky Broiler starting from July.

Meanwhile, the market operators say that rumors about the possible sale of Stavropolsky Broiler appeared a year ago. Four of five companies including Optifood, Cherkizovo, and Mosselprom were defined as potential buyers, but eventually, the bargains weren’t concluded, Albert Davleev, the Vice-President of international Program on poultry breeding development says. The market operators call an extremely high price for the asset, i.e. 140 million dollars, set by Agros management, as the reason for unsuccessful negotiations. A year ago, for the period of peak growth of the company, the capitalization of Stavropolsky Broiler could amount to 120 million dollars, but in a view of feed prices increasing and poultry production cost increases, the company’s capitalization decreased, Mr. Davleev adds. Now, the experts estimate that Stavropolsky Broiler maximum value doesn’t exceed 80 million dollars.

Konstantin Korneev, the General Director of the Consulting Company Navigator Adviser, says that a new owner of the plant will have to optimize significantly business processes to reduce production costs, as well as to develop a new business line, i.e. meat producing for industrial processing. Mr. Davleev considers that the company should increase chilled poultry sales volumes as well. “But the development will be retarded due to low buying power of the population in the South of Russia and territory limited market.”

Citing trade data released by the Foreign Agricultural Service, the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) reports that exports of U.S. poultry meat for the first five months of 2008 set an all-time record in both volume and value.

Combined export volume of poultry products for January through May was 1,537,947 metric tons, up 27 percent from the same period in 2007. Combined value reached $1.506 billion, 40 percent greater than in 2007. These record export volumes have also helped the U.S. to regain its status as the world’s leading poultry exporter, surpassing Brazil.

U.S. broiler meat exports, excluding chicken paws, for May set another year-on-year record for both volume and value. It is the fifth consecutive year-on-year record month for U.S. broiler meat exports this year.

Cumulative U.S. broiler meat exports for the first five months of 2008 reached 1,240,209 tons, valued at $1.32 billion, up 28.9 and 42.9 percent, respectively, over the same period a year earlier. Both volume and value of broiler pork exports are records for the period.

Strong worldwide demand for poultry meat drove U.S. monthly export volume for May to 288,468 metric tons, an increase of 50.2 percent over May 2007 and 7.5 percent ahead of April 2008.

Increased demand also pushed up prices, with export value of U.S. broiler chicken meat exports in May reaching $314.5 million, a 52.1 percent increase year-on-year and a 9.9 percent jump over the previous month.

May exports to the top three markets – Russia, China, and Mexico – totaled 152,327 metric tons, accounting for 53 percent of the total monthly export volume. Shipments to Russia reached 97,452 tons, up 57.7 percent year-on-year, while pigmeat to China and Mexico increased by 44.2 and 60.0 percent, respectively, from the same month a year earlier.

For turkey meat, May exports also set a year-on-year record for both quantity and value. Export quantity reached 22,555 tons, an increase of 4.9 percent from the same month a year earlier. Export value reached $37.5 million, an increase of 6.8 percent from May 2007.

From January through May, U.S. turkey export volume reached 114,849 tons, up 18.2 percent from the same period a year earlier. Export value, meanwhile, increased by 22.3 percent to $185.4 million.

Turkey exports to Mexico, China, and Russia – the top three markets, respectively – totaled 16,098 tons, or 71.4 percent of U.S. total turkey exports for the month.

Exports to China reached 2,794 tons, an increase of 107.4 percent. While exports to Russia increased by 6.2 percent, exports to Mexico decreased by 10.8 percent year-on year. In addition, exports to Taiwan were more than tripled year-on-year.

Brazilian broiler firms vie for top spot

Twelve months after a hostile takeover attempt, in which Sadia tried to buy Perdigão , Brazil’s top two poultry producers reversed positions. Perdigão passed Sadia when it finalized an acquisition of Eleva Alimentos in February.

The unsuccessful takeover attempt in 2006 spurred Perdigão to revise its business strategies and enter an accelerated growth mode with a goal of strengthening the company and reducing vulnerability for future takeover bids. To insure survival, the company began aggressively pursuing growth domestically and within the global market. Focusing on different business areas and not just meats, and supported by a significant investment program, Perdigão went shopping.

During the first part of 2007, the company acquired Sino dos Alpes for $4.8 million dollars. A small, specialty poultry meat safety and pork products company located in southern Brazil, the division was a subsidiary of Grandi Salumifici Italiani, a traditional Italian sausage producer with more than 150 years of experience and operations in 11 countries. In the same month, Perdigão opened the Mineiros, Goiás State complex, in Brazil’s mid-western region, with an annual capacity of 81,000 tons of processed heavy poultry meat-based products (turkey and the Chester brand roaster), expanding production.

An established supplier of raw materials and finished products for the European market, Perdigão’s strategy of entering the European Union’s retail market with its own brands had not been successful. Company executives chose an alternative strategy of diversification, investing in more sophisticated products for higher market segments.

After two years of negotiations, the company finalized the purchase of Plusfood, a Dutch meat processing company, for 30 million ($46.29 million). With plants in The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Romania, Plusfood has an annual income of about 75 million ($115.72 million), selling 20 thousand tons of hamburgers, nuggets, and grilled products under the Friki brand of poultry products, and Fribo brand of beef products, in addition to a strong presence in the food service market. Prior to being acquired by Perdigão, the company belonged to Cebeco Groep B.V., a Dutch co-op holding with over 200 subsidiaries in 100 countries, 40,000 associated producers and annual income of 3.4 billion ($5.25 billion).

According to Perdigão, the acquisition’s main goal was to move up in the value chain with sales reaching European market end-consumers in the retail and foodservice segments. The purchase also enabled the company to perfect new products for EU consumers, become more effective with deliveries and gain total control over sales and distribution services.

To celebrate 73 years in business, the company opened the Nova Mutum poultry processing plant extension projects in Mato Grosso State in western Brazil, with a capacity of 280,000 birds per day. It bought the Gale Agroindustrial poultry complex in Jataí, Goiás, in Brazil’s Midwest. This facility, along with the one in Rio Verde, processes 500,000 birds a day.

Perdigão also returned to beef production, a business they had left in the 1990s and reentered in 2005 by leasing a third-party unit, acquiring industrial facilities in Mato Grosso and Paraná states. Based on Perdigão’s plans to acquire or build new facilities, today’s 500-head per day of beef cattle operation should reach 6,000 head per day in 2009 and 8,000 per day by 2011.

When Perdigão bought Eleva Alimentos, the old Avipal, it obtained the poultry processing plant in Bahia that Avipal began operating in 2002.

Dairy And Sausage Diversification

Already in the margarine market with house brands, the company closed a deal with Anglo-Dutch conglomerate Unilever to acquire their Doriana, Claybom and Delicata margarine brands, which Unilever continues to produce. The agreement still contemplates the creation of a joint venture between the two companies to manage the Becel and Becel ProActive premium product brands. Unilever licensed the use of these brands, which can be used in other Perdigão product lines. This agreement accelerated Perdigão’s growth in the margarine segment.

Perdigão added the remaining 49 percent of Batavia stock, a traditional southern Brazilian dairy, to the 51 percent it had acquired in 2006. It now has full control of the company that processes 63.4 million gallons of milk a year.

Brazil’s northeastern region, with a 15 percent economic growth rate per year, was selected as Perdigão’s new manufacturing base. Investing $140 million dollars, the company plans to open a Batávia unit in the state of Pernambuco to process 100,000 liters (26,420 gallons) of milk per day, possibly reaching production levels up to 300,000 liters (79,260 gallons), to yield some 125,000 metric tons of products a year. A sausage, traditional cold cuts and bologna manufacturing site with a capacity for 120,000 metric tons per year, and a distribution center are also planned.

Perdigão Takes Over

In February 2008, Perdigão acquired Eleva Alimentos, previously Avipal, one of Brazil’s most important poultry, swine and dairy producers, based in Rio Grande do Sul. According to Perdigão, 46 percent of the nearly $1.7 billion dollar purchase was paid in cash with resources gained through public offerings and the remaining 54 percent through the incorporation of shares. This purchase, made a little over 12 months after the hostile takeover attempt, gave Perdigão the lead in sales for the Brazilian poultry processing industry.

A company press release reported that Perdigão closed 2007 with gross invoicing of nearly $4.3 billion dollars, a 27.6 percent increase over 2006 figures. Its net income for the year grew 174 percent, to $170 million dollars.

Perdigão’s rapid growth came from strong domestic market and export performance, along with scale and productivity profits and a share increase in sales for processed products in the company’s total net sales, reaching 53 percent. These factors, along with the Batávia’s dairy activities, the margarine business, and the beef cattle acquired during the year, fueled their 27.3 percent gross income growth, accumulating $3.4 billion dollars in 2007.

As Perdigão continues it growth, Sadia, now second in the Brazilian poultry market is expanding its businesses and investments, perhaps to regain its market leadership. Brazil’s meat industry and overall economy are reaping the benefits of the tremendous growth of its two top meat producing companies.