Italcol Group, a family-run agribusiness, controls more than 20 per cent of feed mills in Columbia, with expansion also currently underway into neighbouring Panama. Hybro’s PG breeders were first introduced in 2003 through Kalidad, then an independent company that was subsequently acquired by Italcol Group in 2004. And with the strong advocacy of respected local technical advisor Dr. Carlos Pinedo, Hybro succeeded in placing trials for its enhanced PG+ breeders throughout the Group last year.

“Since placing the first Hybro PG breeder flock in Colombia in 2003, the birds have sho wn outstanding broiler performance and demonstrate excellent peak production and competitive hatchability at breeder level,” explains Paulo Martins, Hybro’s area manager in Latin America.

“In 2005, our trials were extended into the whole Italcol Group, to test the enhanced Hybro PG+,” he continues, “And with such success that today [Hybro] delivers PG+ breeders to all the group’s poultry companies, already more than quadrupling our share compared with last year.”

PG+ is Hybro’s fast-growing product for integrated producers in the live broiler or dressed whole birds segment. And with results from the first PG+ broilers in Colombia exceeding all expectations, the Dutch company is, says Paolo Martins, poised now to increase its share of the 3.5million broiler breeder market in the country.

Feedback from the launch programme, which attracted delegates from Italcol-owned Kalidad, Avifonce and San Marino, bodes well, he says, for Hybro’s ambitions to grow PG+ (G)PS market share to 20 per cent by 2008.

The collaborative roadshow, which took place in Bucaramanga, Barranquilla, Bogota and Cali from August 21-25, was perfectly and in detail organized by Kalidad, Avifonce and San Marino. And it reflects Hybro’s commitment to growth in Colombia and other parts of Latin America, as the company targets ambitious growth globally, with the aim of becoming the preferred partner for an ever-larger customer base worldwide.

ThePoultrySite News Desk