150 international guests discussed animal nutrition at the 2018 Poultry & Swine Tour by Jefo

27 August 2018

Jefo welcomed over a hundred guests from 22 countries for the 2018 Poultry & Swine Tour, a week-long event focused on animal nutrition held from August 27th to 31st.

Jefo is extremely focused on the educational aspects of its events. “We believe that sharing knowledge is essential to develop the next era of animal nutrition. This is why we have invited more than 20 global experts to join us this week and present some very interesting conferences to our guests ”, says Jean Fontaine, President and Founder of the Jefo Group.

The 2018 Poultry & Swine Tour started on Monday, when guests, who are clients, distributors, university professors, industry influencers and scientific researchers, arrived for a welcome reception at the terrace of the brand-new Sheraton hotel in Saint-Hyacinthe.

After the opening session presented by Mr. Fontaine, Tuesday morning was dedicated to general conferences about public trust in food and farming (by Mrs. Crystal Mackay, President of the Canadian Centre of Food Integrity), consumer market trends and challenges (by Mr. Bruce McCullagh, VP of Maple Lodge Farms) and the use of microencapsulation to minimize formulation risks and maximize profits (by Dr. Peter Ferket, Professor of the North Carolina State University). In the afternoon, guests attended specific conferences on poultry or swine matters presented by renowned specialists Dr. John Fairborther, Professor at the University of Montreal, Dr. Michele Guerin, Associate Professor at the University of Guelph, Dr. Benoit Lanthier, Veterinary Consultant for Jefo, Dr. Manon Racicot, Veterinary Epidemiologist from the University of Montreal, Dr. Roger Campbell, Scientific Researcher of RG Campbell Advisory, Dr. Nathalie Trottier, Professor at the University of Montreal and Dr. Egan Brockhoff, Associate Partner of Prairie Swine Health Services.

Wednesday also started with general conferences about the new welfare standards (by Dr. Stephanie Cotte, Global Poultry Welfare Lead from Cargill) and methodologies for assessing gut health, (by Dr. Elizabeth Santin, Associate Professor at the Federal University of Parana, Brazil). It was still morning when specific poultry and swine conferences started featuring Dr. Elise Myers, Global Technical Director from MSD, Mr. Derek Detzler, Global Technical Manager – Poultry from Jefo, Mr. Botond Alpar, Pig Nutritionist from Agrofeed Hungary, Dr. Chad Paulk, Assistant Professor at Kansas University, Dr. Mariana Lemos de Moraes, Technical Services Manager LATAM – Poultry & Swine from Jefo, Dr. Luis Miguel Gomez Osorio, Professor of the University CES, Colombia and Head of R&D at Solla S.A, Dr. Ruurd Zijlstra, Professor and chief of department at the University of Alberta, Dr. Gabler, Associate Professor at the Iowa State University, as well as Dr. Campbell and Dr. Trottier, who returned to the stage to present other conferences. Just before the closing session by Mr. Fontaine, Mr. Frederic Verreault, from TACT Intelligence-conseil addressed a presentation on media relations. In the evening, guests enjoyed a special cocktail at the Jefo Campus lobby.

If on Wednesday, guests had just a taste of the Campus, on Thursday, they could discover most of Jefo’s facilities: Jefo Logistics, the poultry research sites, warehouse and distribution centers and the Jefo Campus in its entirety.

Finally, on Friday, a visit to Montreal was a must-do activity, particularly to those visiting Canada for the first time. Then, a closing reception was held at the Montreal Westin hotel.

Jefo’s guests highly appreciated the event saying that the information provided was very useful and that they could understand better the company’s efforts to provide high-quality products as well as outstanding customer service.

In order to generate 1 billion Canadian dollars in revenue by 2025, Jefo currently commercializes its solutions in more than 50 countries. It employs over 320 people across all continents.