Last year, more than 200 people from 98 companies and 42 different countries accepted our invitation and joined LOHMANN TIeRZUCHT as we hosted our 53rd Franchise Distributor Meeting in Istanbul from september 28 th – 30th 2015. The participants were treated to three interesting days filled with updates on current topics in the layer industry as well as discussions and lively exchange of experiences

To kick-off the lecture programme, a variety of presentations were held on the first day. We were introduced to the Turkish Layer business by “HasTavuk” and learnt more about the problems the host country is currently facing. Turkey is very keen in acquiring market shares in other countries such as Japan and China in order to not be entirely dependent on the European market for their exports.

Prof. Dr. Preisinger gave an update on ‘What’s new in Genetics?’ thereby emphasizing that ‘Selection must not focus on current market and customer needs alone, but rather on global market needs of the future.’

By 2050, the world’s population is expected to increase to about 9 billion and urbanization will increase from 50% to 70%. André Brand of “Nutreco’s Trouw Nutrition” began his presentation by describing potential problems. He then presented innovative solutions to tackle the same, e.g. precision feeding.

Customers from other parts of the world such as “Boire & Freres” of Canada, “Schropper” of Austria, “Bounty Fresh” of the Philippines, “Incubandina S.A.” of Ecuador and “Wadi Poultry” of Egypt, also had the opportunity to present their companies and to show the differences of egg production in their respective regions.

Peter van Horne, “LEI Wageningen”, took to the podium and held a speech on “Avian Influenza: economic impact on the layer industry”. He pointed at strong evidence that suggest that the virus is introduced by wild birds. Van Horne then went through the economic impact the outbreaks have on trade and egg prices in Europe as well as in the US. On the last day, the attendees took part in a brand new concept of the lecture programme, i.e. interactive workshops covering the three major topics in today’s operations: Hatchery, Economics and Health. These workshops, which were chaired by our experts, provided the opportunity for passionate discussions and a fruitful exchange of experiences. Being a fascinating city filled of history and culture, we certainly did not miss the unique opportunity to also tour the major highlights of Istanbul and visit historical landmarks such as the SultanAhmed-Mosque. We hope all our guests enjoyed their stay in Istanbul together with our Lohmann Team as much as we did and we are looking forward to seeing you in Kyoto, Japan!

Imke Stegemann