October 21, 2014
Aviagen ponders over broiler future on 40th anniversary
Forty Aviagen® SweChick customers from across Scandinavia came together recently to celebrate the company's 40th anniversary at its hatchery in Åstorp, Sweden.
Delegates from Sweden, Denmark Norway and Iceland were joined by Aviagen staff and suppliers in the celebrations, whose activities included a series of presentations covering the history of Aviagen SweChick as well as the future of global and Scandinavian broiler production.
The anniversary also saw Aviagen SweChick's new grandparent farm in Norregård receive its first flock. Farms in the region now total 12. The Åstorp hatchery also underwent expansion recently to increase its hatching capacity and meet the growing demand in the market. Its area has doubled from the original hatchery and setter capacity has increased by 80%.
Aviagen SweChick General Manager Thomas Carlson said: "We wanted to hold this event to not only celebrate the 40th anniversary of Aviagen SweChick but also to demonstrate to our customers that we are investing in our future, which means we are investing in their future also.
"It was a fantastic occasion all round and I would like to thank all of the customers, staff and suppliers for their continued support over the past 40 years, which is ultimately the reason for our success".
Kristian Kristiansen, CEO of DanHatch, said: "We have been a longstanding customer of Aviagen SweChick and it was a privilege to join them in celebrating what is a significant milestone. The presentations were the perfect mix of retrospective learnings and forward-thinking ideas and we also enjoyed and appreciated the celebrations that followed"!
US-based Aviagen® has established itself as the world's leading poultry breeding company, developing pedigree lines for the production of commercial broiler chickens under the Arbor Acres®, Indian River®, and Ross® brand names. It has wholly owned operations across the UK, Europe, Turkey, Latin America, India, Australia, New Zealand, and the US, and joint ventures in Asia. Its distribution network serves customers in 130 countries.
