April Business Update: What’s new in the world of poultry?

Evonik makes further investment into In Ovo

Evonik has made a follow-up investment in the biotechnology start-up, In Ovo, through its venture capital unit. The investment comes as the company reaches the commercialisation stage for its technology and is bringing its gender-testing machine for eggs to the market. Together with co-investor, VisVires New Protein Capital, Evonik Venture Capital has provided several million euros in further funding.

Total Water Care introduces complete water filtration system for livestock

Total Water Care has introduced a skid mounted water filtration system, an all-in-one concept that it says will guarantee the water quality from the source to the animal, to ensure clean, fresh and tasty drinking water for farm animals. The waterskid cleans iron, manganese and water hardness to the right levels.

Photo: Total Water Care

Duravant acquires poultry processing solutions provider, Foodmate

Duravant LLC, an engineered equipment and automation solutions provider to the food processing, packaging and material handling sectors, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Foodmate, a manufacturer of poultry processing equipment dual-headquartered in Ball Ground, Georgia, and Numansdorp, the Netherlands. This partnership brings together 2 global engineered equipment companies and extends Duravant’s ability to serve customers and partners in over 190 countries worldwide within the food processing sector.

New E. coli vaccine trials for Banham Poultry

UK’s Banham Poultry, which supplies whole chicken and selected cuts to some of the country’s biggest supermarkets, has joined forces with leading pharma company, Zoetis, and poultry veterinary consultants, Crowshall Veterinary Services, in trialing a new vaccine, Poulvac E. coli. The vaccine is being administered to more than 1.6 million birds day-old chicks along with other vaccines in the hatchery and sets out to protect the chickens against E. coli. If successful, Banham Poultry will roll out the programme across its entire farming base. Over the past 18-months, its owners, who purchased the business in 2018, have invested £11m (US$ 15,31 million) at the 12-acre Attleborough site.

Photo: Banham Poultry

Positive results for Menon’s MrFeed in poultry diets

Menon Renewable Products has announced that preliminary results from a trial conducted on poultry fed a diet including Menon’s proprietary MrFeed ingredient indicate increased growth and survivability without the use of antibiotics. Additionally, birds fed diets with MrFeed appeared to have significantly healthier internal organs. MrFeed replaces various grains, animal byproducts (such as blood plasma, fish meal, etc.), protein concentrates, enzymes, growth promoters, and other additives to create a safe, nutritious and effective finished feed solution.

CPF committed to sustainability, and invests in Cambodia

Charoen Pokphand Foods has proceeded with its forest conservation and restoration efforts, and in 2020, cut energy consumption per unit of product, lowered dependence on raw water and decreased waste to landfill. Meanwhile, under the ‘CPF Food from the Heart against Covid-19’ programme, safe food has been delivered to the frontline medical personnel and those in need. In Cambodia, CPF is investing more than US$ 67 million in livestock production, food processing and slaughterhouses, and in Vietnam, CP Foods has won the gold prize from the Vietnam National Quality Awards 2020 and the other 5 National Quality Awards in 2019-2020 from its efforts to improve product quality and contribute to the development of modern and sustainable agriculture in the country.

Photo: CP Foods

Cobb New Zealand meets with Māori king on economic development

The GM of Cobb New Zealand, Jimmy Chand, has met with the Māori king, Te Arikinui Tūheitia Paki, to discuss economic development strategies for the region. Cobb New Zealand is growing as sales into Asia and the Pacific increase. The company, which is committed to hiring as many members of the Māori community as possible, has provided school uniforms and rugby balls to 3 schools in the region, and has contributed 25,000 table eggs as part of food parcels to help families in need.