Driven by increasing farm sizes and the rise of alternative systems, Novogen the layer selection specialist, established 10 years ago, now emerges as a major market player.
Novogen’s story is that of a risk taken in 2008 by the Groupe Grimaud, Mickael Le Helloco and Thierry Burlot, Novogen Managing Director and R&D Director respectively, who decided to embark on a new entrepreneurial adventure in the world of animal genetics.
At this point in time, layer selection was strongly focused and restricted choice in egg production. Thus came the idea of providing an alternative selection offering in response to new producer demands.
From the very beginning, Novogen foresaw future market developments and banked on a selection offering with criteria suited to new breeding methods: “Our genetic programme was the first to take interest in societal expectations with regard to animal welfare”, explains Mickael Le Helloco.
“Of course, we didn’t only pick these criteria, as a large number of our products are perfectly suitable for traditional farms, but this new research approach allowed us to be ahead of the game with regard to unexplored criteria: social behaviour, laying time, time spent nesting, and even shell quality”, says Thierry Burlot.
One of their strengths lies in having been able to increase R&D investments in innovative technologies such as genomics or RFID chips, with the support of Groupe Grimaud’s Genetech platform, for a faster and more expansive approach to selection criteria.
This head start allowed Novogen to also simultaneously establish expertise in production management and therefore help customers undergo change with a dedicated pool of experts. The team says: “The product is important, but being able to provide associated services is paramount!”
Now distributed in over 50 countries worldwide, Novogen is experiencing greater customer satisfaction: “We recently had to bolster our sales force to better meet growing demands”, adds Mickael Le Helloco. “New customers hear about our products before even knowing about us, and that’s what makes us most proud!”.
More than ready to meet future challenges, Novogen now looks to the future of the sector with enthusiasm.
