European producers who attended the conference said they found Desouzart’s presentations thought-prov king and the ensuing small group discussions between producers illuminating.

"All these discussions were very interesting, very useful for us, I think," said Javier Rodriguez Ceballos, managing director of the Spanish poultry giant Sada, a company that produces about 3.2 million broilers per week—or approximately one of every three birds purchased by Spanish consumers.

He said that one central point discussed at the conference struck him as particularly important to remember: That poultry companies through out the EU cannot depend only on government protectionist policies to shield them from competition from inexpensive frozen imports. "We really need to develop ways to make our products unique and valuable for our customers. This is the big challenge for us."

Flavio Amadori, principal owner of Amadori Group, one of the biggest producers of broilers in Italy, also attended. He said he thought the structure of the meeting was quite unusual. "It is not often that we have the chance of comparing our company with other European companies in this intimate way, and also discussing with one another the challenges we face," he said. "It was very helpful to hear all the different opinions that were expressed."

Still another top executive at the conference was Bruno Veronesi, who heads the Italian conglomerate AIA, the second largest poultry meat producer in Europe behind only the French giant, Doux. He said that even though he has occasional interactions with other producers at official EU poultry meetings in Brussels, it is rare to have such frank and open discussions.

"At this meeting, however, we have discussed not only technical matters but also more international business topics such as the imports from Brazil and elsewhere that are of concern for all of us," he said. "The information and points of view we shared with one another will be very helpful, I think."

Schering-Plough Animal Health says more meetings are being planned.

Spring 2008

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