ZAMHATCH SCOOPS ‘BEST CHICKS’ AWARD

ZAMHATCH, a subsidiary of Zambeef, has scooped the Cobb Champion award for best producer of Cobb500 day- old broiler chicks in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region (EMEA) for 2018.

Zambeef invested US$20 million into the Zamhatch hatchery in Mpongwe and a further US$10 million into setting up the Novatek feed mill operation in Mpongwe, creating additional capacity for its stock feed operations.

According to a Poultry Association of Zambia (PAZ) 2017 report, the country recorded a growth rate of 8 per cent in broiler production, from 77.3 million-day-old chicks in 2016, to 83.4 million in 2017. This growth has been

spurred by a growing population and increased disposable income.

Cobb-Europe Senior Manager for Africa Pieter Oosthuysen commended Zamhatch for consistently producing healthy flocks and growing its production levels.

Mr Oosthuysen was speaking when he presented the award to Zamhatch

“The Cobb Champions award targets companies and individual farmers with exceptional performance in chick numbers, hatchability and/or broiler performance within a particular region. Several of our customers have produced performances that have ranked them in the top three across the globe,” Mr Oosthuysen

Speaking at the same event, Zambeef Deputy Managing Director Walter Roodt said that Zamhatch aimed to expand its production further to remain a reliable supplier of day-old-chicks.

“We have plans to grow our production to a point where we can produce a million chicks a week at our Mpongwe farm alone. From there we are delivering to our commercial chicken rearing sites like Zamchick to service our consumers.

“We are completing the first half of the expansion phase, which is getting to the 500,000 – 600,000 per week – which is something we are very proud of,” he said.

Four of the last five Cobb champions have come from Africa, with this year’s award going to Zamhatch while the individual award went to Zamhatch primary production manager Mr Canzius Le Roux.

The goal of the award is to recognise high standards of performance among Cobb customers while encouraging others to step up the quality and quantity of their flocks’ performance.

The Cobb500 is considered the world’s most efficient broiler, with a high feed-to- meat conversion ratio and low mortality.

Zambia has recorded some of the fastest growth rates in the regional poultry sector owing in part to massive investment.

The Cobb500 is considered the world’s most efficient broiler, with a high feed-to-meat conversion ratio and low mortality.