ISA, the layer business unit of Hendrix Genetics, plans to purchase Midwest Farms LLC, part of Midwest Food Association, and will acquire the Pennsylvania-based hatchery Pennovo (formerly Penn Embryo) and the Virginia based hatchery, Brickland (MFA). ISA will create a new company, Hendrix-ISA, to serve the U.S. market with premium quality layers.
With the capacity to produce close to one million commercial layers a week, Hendrix-ISA will expand its leadership in the U.S. layer market.
U.S. egg producers will have direct access to the breeding company through Hendrix-ISA. That direct access will provide the opportunity for the team to review field results and breed expectations, the company stated, thereby giving the layer industry a voice on future breeding programs that will benefit US egg producers.
Hendrix-ISA offers the opportunity to purchase premium quality, day-old chicks directly from the global leader in layer genetics. The fully modernized, state-of-the-art facility, Pennovo, will produce up to 500,000 high quality, commercial layers per week, while the existing Brickland Hatchery has a production capacity of up to 400,000 high quality, commercial layers per week.
Hendrix-ISA will focus on the leading products - Shaver White and Isa Brown. In addition, Bovans, Dekalb, Hisex and Babcock brands will be distributed throughout Hendrix-ISA as parent stock and as commercial layers. Bovans White and Brown and Dekalb White products will remain available in the U.S. via Centurion Poultry Inc. Distribution of ISA products in the U.S. from Merrill, Westwind, Pitman and other Hendrix affiliated hatcheries will remain the same.
“For a long time, the U.S. market has had limited choices in egg layer genetics,” said Peter Mumm, the new managing director of Hendrix-ISA LLC. “Now the layer industry has another choice. The excellence of Hendrix-ISA’s genetics, our team of poultry specialists, and our world-class breeding- and hatchery facilities will provide the US market with the highest quality in genetics and service.”
Thijs Hendrix, founder of Hendrix Genetics, commented about the Hendrix-ISA initiative in the U.S.: “It fits perfectly in our strategy to selectively integrate further into the supply chain, to grow in the US and to work closely with our strategic partners.”
Bruce Lackey, general manager of Midwest Foods Association (MFA) stated: “The MFA purchasing cooperative has worked very hard over the past twelve years to develop our Midwest Farms hatchery and breeder farm complex into something very special. It is now time for us to spin off that division to a company that is equally special - Hendrix-ISA. With this divestiture, MFA can now get back to its roots and focus strictly on serving member needs and developing new buying programs.”
