This year, participants came exclusively from outside the EU, travelling from Africa, The Middle East, Latin America and Asia, to take part in the 10-day programme at Hybro’s Boxmeer headquarters in The Netherlands.

“When we launched the Hybro Poultry College in 2004, our aim was to embrace a complete range of topics that were not only of relevance to daily practice throughout the modern integration, but also to the dynamics – and the future - of a globalised industry”, says Hybro’s general manager Richard Maatman.

That vision and spirit of open, international collaboration have fuelled the growth of the College – attracting participation once again this year from a combination of leading industry players and business owners alongside technical specialists, veterinarians and production managers, to bring both a strategic and an operational perspective to discussions.

HPC covers what delegates approvingly refer to as a ‘holistic’ breadth of subject matter, from business management and market development, to the practical and technical aspects of poultry processing. Delegate feedback plays an important role in refining course content, and topics put under the spotlight range from economic modelling, data analysis and global developments, to nutrition, monitoring diseases, vaccination and hatching technology.

This approach is proving powerful on many levels, explains Ron Meijerhof, Hybro’s senior technical specialist and one of the organizers for the Hybro Poultr y College, because the College has been so successful in attracting delegates from different regions globally. “In a typical HPC ‘classroom’, he says, “we will find people involved in the world’s major poultry integrations, working alongside those who come from emerging markets.

“This mix of strategic and operational personnel means that both groups are exposed to the main aims and challenges of the other, which creates a healthy exchange of perspectives throughout the integration. Senior personnel revisit key operational aspects in current terms – while those working at an operational level acquire a greater appreciation of the challenges facing their business strategically.”

As in previous years, Hybro Poultry College 2006 combined classroom-based coursework with a programme of visits and presentations by guests who represent the most up-to-date use of technology and management practice. Of particu lar note every year, a visit to the European Parliament in Brussels gave delegates, all of whom hailed from outside the EU, a unique opportunity to understand the practices and legislation that are shaping both domestic and international trade in the world’s fourth largest poultry meat market.

As a breeding company, Hybro’s core areas of competence and delivery are further strengthened by inputs to the College programme from parent company Nutreco, the largest agri-business in Europe, and Euribrid, which encompasses the Group’s Breeding and Research Centre (BRC).

And according to feedback from College delegates this year, this commitment to sharing both Hybro and the Nutreco Group’s expertise, coupled with a willingness to offer access to key European contact networks, is a formula that meets with unilateral approval.

With the benefit of continuing support from invited companies, Hybro will, it says, continue to develop Hybro Poul try College as an annual event designed to facilitate continued learning and international collaboration for many years to come.

ThePoultrySite News Desk