February 11, 2016

 

Aviagen's Ross hosts 15th Middle East Africa Association Meeting in Spain

 

 

 

The Ross^® Middle East Africa Association has built its success by focusing on global poultry market events and trends, presenting important developments for Aviagen's Ross 308 and enabling distributor customers to support each other by sharing their experiences promoting Ross.

 

Therefore, a two-day programme, held in Barcelona, Spain, served to inform Ross distributors through a collective of experienced speakers on topics important to their businesses in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.

 

"The Ross Middle East Africa Association is an important annual occasion for the Ross team and Ross distributors who have consistently supported the event over 15 years. The bar is set high and the value to our Ross distribution network is recognised," said Bulent Tanyildizi, Aviagen's international commercial manager for the Middle East and Africa.    

 

The programme commenced with a welcome address by Jan Henriksen, CEO of Aviagen, who commented on the impact of avian influenza (AI) in 2015 and the company's response by working with governments and compartmentalisation. 

 

Tom Exley, Aviagen's president for markets in Asia, Turkey, Middle East and Africa, began the first session with an overview of the global slowdown and a focus on several key markets - US, Europe, AMEA, China and India. 

 

Michael Garden, Aviagen's business manager for MEA, then delivered a regional update and addressed flock delivery feedback.

 

A world meat market update by GIRA consultant Rupert Claxton followed and highlighted Brazil's increased competitive advantage from a devalued currency. 

 

Veterinarian Dr. Pavel Shkarlat took a more in-depth view of HPAI and compartmentalisation to highlight the underlying threats and future outlook for the virus.

 

Santiago Avendano, Aviagen's Global Director for Genetics, then updated the group on genetic progress with specific focus on breeding goals.

 

Dominic Elfick, Aviagen's international product manager compared regional and global performance benchmarks for the Ross 308.  A country presentation summary was given by Neil Clark, regional service manager for MEA.

 

The programme for Day one was closed with an intriguing review of the Spanish poultry market by Sergio Ilan, general manager of Aviagen S.A.U.

 

The second day opened with an analysis of the MEA poultry markets by GIRA which highlighted annual growth above the global average and the imports share of the region market. 

 

Graeme Dear, general manager of Aviagen Ltd, outlined the organisation in Europe and the large EU intra trade in hatching eggs. 

 

This was followed by a review of what it entails to be 'custodians of the Ross brand', as presented by marketing consultant Bill Level, as well as a Turkish case study of maintaining customer loyalty by sales manager Kayhan Gursel. 

 

Jim Johnson continued the day's sessions with a presentation on integrators' expectations concerning parent stock suppliers.

 

The programme ended with a review of the recent distributor customer focus team event held earlier in the year in Scotland, and a presentation on "60 years of Ross in the global market".