Eggs take centre stage at VIV Asia

When VIV Asia opens its doors on 11-13 March 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand, it will be aiming to build on its reputation as a major platform in the Asia-Pacific region, featuring breakthrough innovations all along the food chain. The 2009 Feed-to-Meat exhibition promises new initiatives, such as VIV Lane and the 1st Aqua VIV Asia event.

The exhibition theme is "Eggs!" with a dedicated pavilion, conference and CEO forum supporting the theme, developed through a media partnership between VIV and WATT.

Project manager Ruwan Berculo explains: "VIV aims to create inspiring business platforms centred on innovation. That is why we launch special show themes. VIV Asia 2007 saw the first special theme, aquaculture. For the coming edition we have decided to place eggs in the spotlight, considering the positive outlook for production and consumption of eggs and egg-related products in most Asian countries."

VIV is partnering with WATT on the special theme. "We are delighted with this innovative partnership between VIV and WATT to promote the egg industry in Asia," says WATT President and CEO Greg Watt. The organisers' objectives are to present world-class innovative products and services to advanced top-end buyers and to explain best practices and guidelines for production and processing. "We intend to turn it into an extremely useful combination of education and new ideas for all stakeholders in the sector," explains Berculo.

The last VIV Asia, in 2007, proved to be an effective meeting place for professionals across the livestock and aquaculture industries. At the three-day event in Bangkok, 518 exhibitors from 37 countries displayed their latest, most innovative products. Visitors numbering 21,726 from 92 countries walked the show floor to catch up with the industry from around the globe. Both exhibitors and visitors gave high ratings for the quality of the trade show. The two-day VIV Asia Conference attracted 2,720 top level industry representatives. Organisers believed the aquaculture presentations were successful.

Aqauculture also highlighted

The success of the Aqua Walk and the Aqua Forum at VIV Asia 2007 resulted in the launch of the first dedicated event for Asia-Pacific's aqua business, Aqua VIV Asia. With this new brand, VIV Asia extends its position in Asia-Pacific in the field of aquaculture. "VIV Asia 2007 attracted 5,648 buyers in this segment, an increase of 56% compared with 2005. This confirmed the growing interest in Asia-Pacific for this promising method of food production," says Berculo. "It was a clear signal for extending the focus on this subject." Aqua VIV Asia is part of VIV Lane. Exhibitors active in aquaculture can rent booths and/or business seats to profile their aqua portfolio.

Eggs conference

One exhibition hall will contain the Eggs! Pavilion, which shows and explains the key issues in the egg-production chain, the so-called "Eggtrack." The organisers invite leading companies in the field of production and processing to present their innovations. The pavilion links to the Eggs! conference that takes place on March 12. The conference will be the meeting place for buyers, opinion leaders and scientists. The Eggs! CEO Forum will close out the day. 

The "Eggtrack" of the complete production and processing chain has been developed as the basis for the pavilion and conference. Seven main themes have been selected from it. 

Berculo explains: "In genetics, the focus will be on breeding for performance. In hatching, we are focusing on the production of uniform and healthy day-old chicks. The focus in feed and nutrition is to be on bird performance and producing quality eggs. About layer housing, the key issue chosen relates to innovative housing systems for healthy hens and clean eggs. The health theme will cover the requirements for disease control to achieve the well-being of the bird. Egg processing will concentrate on processing for multiple uses. Lastly, we will examine the needs of packing stations by considering quality control for effective egg handling."