The article, “The trend is the friend” published in the “Internal” news of the Poultry News issue no. 1/2014, showed how sales have been developing in the past 10 years, i.e. very successfully. Looking at our sales position today, 2 years later, we can confirm that the sales trend continues to be very positive despite the challenges we have been facing in various regions all over the world. Germany, Canada, the USA and France were confronted with Avian Influenza outbreaks resulting in supply interruptions or delays in shipments. Political unrest in other areas continues as well. In order to cope with the challenges, we decided to restructure the sales organisation two years ago in the interest of focusing more on customer awareness and proximity by generating regional responsibilities and competence. This was done by empowering Regional Area Managers to be the decision makers for their respective areas. Under the new sales structure, 5 regional areas were determined, i.e. the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and the CIS countries. Each Regional Area Manager reports directly to the Managing Director, Javier Ramírez. This new structure has already proven to be successful with the creation of new customer relations in each region and safeguarding current partnerships.

ASIA

The Asian market for table egg business has the most prospective outlook for further growth as compared to other areas in the world. The number of people in Asia is expected to grow by more than 10 % by 2020, reaching more than 4.6 billion people (about 60 % of the global population). Of course, in order to feed all these people, the number of laying hens will also have to continue to grow by at least 40 % in the years to come. A double digit growth in egg production is expected in countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Myanmar in the coming decade. At present, more than 60 % of all layers worldwide are found in Asia.

LOHMANN TIERZUCHT is well positioned to confront the challenges of the Asian market. With a team of 8 experienced staff members spread over various countries in the region, we are able to increase our business every year. Special attention is given to the major players in the region: China, India, Japan and Indonesia. Needless to say, for sure we will continue to grow in other countries as well.

The Chinese tiger continues to roar

Let’s have a closer look at the global “powerhouse”, China, by far the most populous country world­wide.

When you review statistics of the global layer market, China is considered to be the largest market for table eggs in the world. LOHMANN strains are of course well represented in the Chinese market. Traditionally, Northern China prefers brownshelled eggs whereas the southern states like cream­coloured and tinted eggs more. A niche market for white eggs also exists. LOHMANN BROWN, SANDY and LOHMANN LSL are amongst the most popular breeds in China. Both breeder and layer farms prefer the LOHMANN breeds much more to others. At breeder level, the excellent reproduction rate of the (grand­) parent stock is well­known. The egg producing farms appreciate the long lasting cost effective production of A­class eggs of the LOHMANN strains.

It is also well­known that besides other leading egg producing countries like Indonesia and Mexico, China is also struggling with endemic high and low avian influenza field infections. The strategies of AI vaccination and beefed­up biosecurity measures at major layer projects have proven to be effective for China. Most breeder and layer flocks perform well above internatio-

Table 1: Human Population Development 2000 – 2030



Table 2: Self Supply Germany/EU



nal standards, despite the high challenges in the field. The Chinese market is highly competitive with a handful of domestic breeding companies and the presence of all leading international layer breeding companies in the country. Foreign companies are only allowed to export grandparent stock (GPS) to the Chinese market. About 15­20 companies are licensed to keep GPs, most of whom not only produce Parent stock for sales, but also keep their own breeders for layer chick sales and some even go downstream to table egg production.

After a year of bottleneck supplies, LOHMANN was finally able to bring breeding stock to 7 companies in China in 2015/16. Our local presence has certainly facilitated imports into China following restrictions due to AI in previous years. LOHMANN has experienced staff in China and Taiwan who are familiar with local customs, language and they bring with them extensive knowledge which all customers appreciate. Regular customer events are organized to update the staff of our customers on the latest technologies by experts from LOHMANN’s head office in Cuxhaven.
In the near future, LOHMANN seeks to further strengthen relationships with existing customers and expand the market even more with the steady growth of our partners.

AFRICA

The African continent has one of the largest potential for growth world­wide as the population is increasing by more than two hundred million inhabitants every ten years. In 2020, this will represent about 17 % of the world’s total population of 7,716.7 million people, according to statistics provided by the FAO. Table egg consumption in Africa is only about 2.3 kg per capita per year. Despite this, LOHMANN TIERZUCHT has been able to grow even stronger by 21 % as compared to the previous fiscal year.
One of the success stories in Africa is the re­introduction of the LOHMANN breed to Morocco. A brand new parent stock project (farms and hatchery) for 50,000 chicks was built according to European state of the art standards. 25,000 parent stock have already been delivered in June 2016.

We also have significant increases in sales in Algeria, Ethiopia and Cameroon. Wadi Poultry, our Egyptian partner, is on its way back to regaining its previous strength and market share. In Ghana, our new customer, BOAHEME Farm is expected to increase our current market shares of 60 % even further.

Overall, our sales forecast for 16/17 is highly optimistic with new partners in Nigeria with more than 100,000 PS.

Table 3: Per Capita Consumption Germany/EU

EUROPE

By looking at poultry statistics like annual placements for hens, parent stock sales, egg consumption etc., Europe seems to be the most ‘boring’ region or if you like, the most stable market in the global overview. But then again, take a second glimpse and we will see that with its constant transition from cage to alternative housing and free range, from traditional management – as known in other parts of the world – to organic flocks, animal welfare regulations and the ban of beak treatment, we have to admit that this is the most challenging market to operate within.

This is the place where all the genetic potential is put to the ultimate tests – and they all perform very well whether LOHMANN BROWN or LOHMANN LSL ­ whatever the system, whatever the size of the flock and, however, the turnover of the company may be; from Ukrainian Avangard (the third biggest egg producer in the world) to a small family business at an organic farm in Tyrol where the farmer knows all his hens by their names. It is the genetics department and research and development that keep their eyes open to any market demands, always focusing on future developments and customer demands.

AMERICA

With a strong focus on technical services, LOHMANN has been able to grow in several countries with consistent market shares through its presence in new countries and expansion of its distributor network in some others. A highly qualified sales and technical service crew that is ever present has always been accompanying the continuous growth of LOHMANN in this continent. This team is composed of 4 people geographically distributed in the area. LOHMANN promotes intensive training by means of visits and courses such as the globally recognized LOHMANN School in Canada, Brazil and Guatemala in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

From North to South, we highlight the growth of LOHMANN with its own operations in Canada aimed at supporting our ever­stronger world­wide distribution capacity as well as a sales increase of 14 % within the country for 2 years now.

The increasing strength of LOHMANN birds in the U.S. is shown in impressive numbers with a cumulated sales growth of over 80 % in the last 2 years.

As one of the largest markets in the world, Mexico has also been LOHMANN’s target with the latter being served by just 3 distributors now. This has been proven effective as LOHMANN has had a growth of 25 % in this country with an even higher expectation for the coming years as the new production facilities will grant customers with steady, reliable and consistent delivery capacities.

Table 4: Egg Production within the EU in 2016



LOHMANN is now present in Costa Rica and has also reinforced its presence in Guatemala 30 years later. With distribution centres in these Central American countries, logistics has become a major advantage for LOHMANN locally as Costa Rica is in the southern area and Guatemala in the northern area of the region.

Brazil is another fast growing market for LOHMANN since the start of its own operation a few years ago. Current and future market needs have driven the company to a higher level with the set­up of a new major and recognised distributor in the country.

All in all, there is a net growth of 40 % as compared to two years ago and there is still a trend of steady growth in the coming years throughout the whole American continent.

THE CIS STATES

The success story of LOHMANN TIERZUCHT in Russia is not only the success of individual companies but of an entire industry. It began in the late eighties of the last century with the shipment of breeding stocks and technical support in order to develop Russia‘s own breeding program from which lines such as “Rodonit”, “Ptichnoe” or “Kuban” arose.

In 1995, LOHMANN delivered the first parent stock to Russia. As there were hardly any direct flights, it was rather complicated and complex to ship our breeds to our first customer “Sverdlowskaya Pticefabrika” in Ekaterinburg. Since then, we have continuously increased our market shares and now supply more than 1 million parents per year to the Russian market. This special market is structured differently than the European as there are only a few numbers of breeding companies but almost exclusively large and medium sized integrators with an annual production of 200 million to 1 billion table eggs!

One particular success of LOHMANN TIERZUCHT in Russia is that 10 of the 12 largest companies are working with the LOHMANN breed. The particular advantages of our white and brown lines, both for commercials and parents, is the maximum egg production with optimum feed conversion and excellent hatchability of the parents, which ensures the economic success of our customers.

Despite the difficult political environment, we were able to develop not only our customer base, but were able to win yet another new breeding establishment like “Volshanin Pticefabrika”.

The global commitment to customer focus and service in line with constant genetic progress in all LOHMANN breeds ensure the competitive edge of our customers today and in the years to come. True to the maxim: For every management, the right hen – for every market, the right egg.

Michael Seidel & Sales Team