The CST Meeting brings together the technical and production staff from AA Grandparent (GP) partners from the region and is a platform to provide high-quality and meaningful technical transfer and support to them and their customers.

This year, 20 delegates representing distributors from Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, were joined by the AA regional technical and commercial team, as well as Aviagen specialists and colleagues from other parts of the world. The main topics on the agenda were product quality and health, nutrition, incubation, hatchery management and effective stock management to achieve maximum performance of the AA Plus. In addition, the delegates also enjoyed presentations on product research and development for the future, an overview of the AA Plus growth in Asia and an update on the successful entry of AA into the Russian market. All distributors also shared insights and experiences from their own markets.

Stanley Millar, Sales Manager, commented: "The AA CST Meeting was a great forum to celebrate the growth of the AA brand globally. The figures are impressive: over the past five years, GP sales have risen by more than 40 per cent to over one million worldwide and we have added a large number of new countries to our supply base. This growth was reflected in the rising attendance at this meeting and we were especially pleased to be able to welcome the latest of our GP distributors, Arbor Acres Algeria. The success of AA in the region is thanks to the efforts of our distributors and the CSTs are a great vehicle to ensure successful transfer of information, knowledge and technology to their customers and thereby provide excellent service and support to their local industries."

Regional Technical Manager, Puzant Dakessian, added: "I would like to thank all our distributors and my colleagues from all over the world for their attendance. We all share the same mission – supporting the Arbor Acres bird. This makes us one family! The CST meeting was a great family gathering, bringing together regional expertise, sharing information, comparing performance, discussing problems, setting collective goals, staying up-dated on new technologies and last, but by no means least, having some fun with the global AA family. Customer Service is a journey, not a destiny, and we are all partners in this journey. Feedback from and discussions with our customers are vital to us and will greatly help our journey into the future."

Dr Khaled Moustafa from MPG Egypt said: "This was a productive meeting which focused on the key issues for our industry in this region. I was delighted to be able to hear such high calibre speakers and I will certainly be using much of the information from today in my own company. It is great to see how our peers are dealing with similar issues and the support we give each other, as well as that from the Arbor Acres team, is invaluable. I especially enjoyed the case study on incubation which gave a new dimension to knowledge transfer. The interaction with other delegates was great and I look forward to having more of these practical sessions in the future."