“Starq Bv”: the new Joint Venture established by Hendrix Genetics and Zanders Poultry

Hendrix Genetics and Zanders Poultry establish a Joint Venture “Starq Bv”, which will exclusively distribute ISA and HPB products in The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Ruud Zanders and Antoon van den Berg signed a contract in which a new company “STARQ BV” has been established. The 50/50 joint venture will be the distributor of Hisex, Bovans, Dekalb, ISA, Shaver and Babcock Parent Stock (PS) to the hatcheries in The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, which will work exclusively with Hendrix Genetics’ brands and products. Besides the above, STARQ will distribute commercial day old chicks and hatching eggs to the egg producers and rearing organizations. Ruud Zanders, the Managing Director of STARQ says “After the consolidation of the layer breeding business, the establishment of STARQ is a logical next step, which will bring lots of advantages, in quality, transparency and financial benefits to the egg layer industry in The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany”. He adds: “STARQ will work closely together with other Hendrix Genetics exclusive hatcheries and partners in the territory. Some contracts have been concluded already, while discussions are taking place with others to join our team”. Hendrix Genetics acquired Institut de Sélection Animale (ISA) and Hendrix Poultry Breeders (HPB) in December 2005 and has the ambition to establish a network of strong, independent, large scale, exclusive distributors in Europe. Antoon van den Berg comments: “STARQ, an abbreviation of Star and Quality, fits perfectly well within this network, and will together with SFPA, our distributor in France, and with our other independent and exclusive hatcheries form a strong alliance to consolidate and grow the market share of ISA and HPB products in Europe”. Zanders Nederland BV, the 50% shareholder in STARQ, is part of the Zanders Poultry Group, which contains a variety of activities in the different parts of the egg value chain in several European countries. The main products delivered and sold by the Zanders Poultry group are reared pullets, day old chicks, hatching eggs and table eggs. Besides the Zanders Poultry Group, through its subsidiary Poultech in Turkey, is distributing several products of main equipment companies and breeding organizations in Turkey. Hendrix Genetics is majority-owned and controlled by the Hendrix family and based in Boxmeer, the Netherlands. In line with its early 2005 formulated strategy it will focus on growth and consolidation opportunities in animal breeding. Its Layer Breeding Division produces and sells grandparent and parent breeders to the world wide layer industry. Both white and brown egg layer genetic products are sold under the brand names ISA, WARREN, SHAVER, BABCOCK, BOVANS, HISEX and DEKALB. Through its subsidiary SFPA it is market leader in commercial layer distribution in the European Union. Through its subsidiary PIGS-Online it develops and markets Internet based software solutions for pig breeding companies, large pig producers, pig integrators and pig processors. The product, which is tailor made for each individual customer, is no-nonsense, functional and innovative. With a number of wholly owned operations and joint ventures across the world, the group serves the world’s egg and pork industry in more than 100 countries with about 490 employees.