Building customer relationships and sharing knowledge on a global and local scale is an Aviagen® core principle, and recently a visit of industry professionals from Belgium to Brazil was organized with that aim in mind. Aviagen EPI and Belgabroed, a major Ross® 308 and Rowan Range® customer based in Belgium, visited Aviagen Latin America to explore Brazil’s growing poultry market.
The experience enabled delegates to understand the industry’s operational and market strengths. As Brazil is an as yet unexplored commercial focus for Aviagen EPI’s Belgian guests, the trip focused on information-sharing, best practices and production processes, while also providing an excellent opportunity for European delegates to network with their Brazilian counterparts.
Client personnel on the trip were: Marc Destrooper, managing director and shareholder (who has since retired); Carl Destrooper, chief executive officer/shareholder; Jan Destrooper, managing director/shareholder; Dirk Moonen, managing director/shareholder; Achiel Vervaeke, hatchery specialist, and Steven Vervaeke, managing director/shareholder. They were accompanied by Patrick Claeys, Aviagen president Europe; Frederiek Claeys, Aviagen EPI project manager; Henk Steenblik, Aviagen EPI sales manager, and Kris Van Daele, Aviagen EPI regional technical manager.
A varied and information-filled trip
During their Brazil trip, the European delegation came to understand how Aviagen Latin America operates within the Brazilian broiler industry. The group enjoyed presentations from Ivan Lauandos, president of Aviagen Latin America; Marilia Rangel, executive secretary of the International Poultry Council (IPC) and Anselmo Micheletti, technical manager of Aviagen Latin America. The delegation visited broiler and PS farms, a slaughterhouse and a feed mill, thus gaining invaluable hands-on information about Brazilian broiler operations, and discussions with hatchery and technical managers were also very useful.
Strong links and excellent relationships
“Thanks to Marc Destrooper’s strong family company leadership, Belgabroed has enjoyed very close relatioships with its customers,” said Aviagen EPI’s Henk Steenblik. “Marc will be missed by BHV2 and by Aviagen, and we thank him for his leadership, vision and support. We will continue to build yet stronger links with Belgabroed and the BHV2 Group – and this recent Brazilian visit confirms the excellent relationship between BHV2 and Aviagen, now and for the future.”
Ivan Lauandos, president of Aviagen Latin America, recalls the success of the trip, especially in terms of sharing vital information: “We always enjoy receiving visiting groups,” he said, “and this visit was particularly successful, due to the delegates’ extensive poultry knowledge and their enthusiastic interest in Brazilian broiler operations.”
About Belgabroed
Belgabroed is a member of the BHV2 Group, which is a collaborative venture comprising the broiler hatcheries of Belgabroed, Van Hulst and Vervaeke-Belavi, along with Incubel, a hatching eggs export company. BHV2 also has a joint venture with De Heus in Vietnam and Myanmar (Burma) and a joint venture with Dan Hatch in France where they have hatchery Goasduff.
