Despite two major fires at its production facilities, Germany-based poultry meat firm, PHW Group achieved a small increase in total sales in the last financial year, and completed a substantial program of investment.
Total sales by the family-owned and Lower Saxony-based PHW Group increased by around 1 percent in the year to the end of June 2017 to EUR2.48 billion (US$3.05 billion).
This was achieved despite production disruptions caused by damaging fires at Wiesenhof plants in Lohne and Bogen. At these locations, there was a slight reduction in sales of core products of just 0.7 percent. As the group gave priority to products for the domestic market in the recovery period, the proportion of exports fell to 16 percent from more than 20 percent before the fires.
Higher-welfare poultry initiative
With poultry consumption in Germany still rising — last year to an annual per-capita average of 21.0 kilograms — and strong demand from consumers for higher-welfare meat products, PHW Group is focusing strongly on this sector. The company’s sales of products complying with various animal welfare initiatives more than trebled from half a million animals per week at the start of 2016 to 1.7 million by the end of 2017.
Looking forward to 2018, PHW Group has set a target of 60 percent for its output of high-welfare products.
The firm says it has been producing an ever wider range of products over the last 20 years to meet consumer expectations, from industry standard to the Privathof poultry range, which meets the requirements of Germany’s Initiative Tierwohl (Animal Welfare Initiative), Dutch schemes Beter Leven and Kip van Morgen, and the Swiss Donautal Premium Poultry.
Last year alone, PHW Group increased its R&D expenditure to EUR2.3 million, with alternative methods of animal husbandry among the main areas of this research.
Performance outside of Germany
PHW’s poultry companies in other countries — Poland, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands — registered improving sales. These amounted to EUR477.6 million (US$587.4 million), 1.4 percent above the previous year’s level.
In 2017, PHW’s Polish affiliate, Drobimex, completed a significant expansion and modernization program at its Dabie poultry processing plant.
The group’s businesses in other sectors also achieved growth in the last financial year. As a result of increased sales of poultry feed, there was a 7.1 percent improvement in overall sales for the Feed division, MEGA Tierernährung. Lohmann Pharma Herstellung helped to boost the Animal Nutrition and Health division by 3.3 percent, while the Human Nutrition and Health group also registered strong growth.
