Mr Wierda, who will be based in South Africa, will be working for both Cobb Europe and Cobb Africa providing customers of both with technical support.

He has worked as a breeder/hatchery manager for a number of companies, most recently for Al-Watania Poultry in Saudi Arabia.

Tom Wierda

He has extensive practical and technical knowledge to share with the expanding client base of Cobb Europe and Cobb Africa, which covers most sub-Saharan countries.

Patrick Murphy, Cobb Africa general manager, commented: "We are excited to have Tom with us to strengthen further our technical resources. With Dr Wouter Steenhuisen already on board, we believe we have a top class team to assist our clients with all their technical needs."