Known for its association with the plum blossom, the city provided an apt setting for discussions on how the Association itself can continue to blossom in the future, with the Ross product at the heart of its operations.

Attended by nine GP customers from ten different countries – Japan, South Africa, Egypt, Sudan, Turkey, Iran, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Zambia - the two-day meeting was hosted by Aviagen’s long-standing Ross GP distributor in Japan; Nippon Chunky alongside Bill Souther and Orapan Chansawat, President and Vice President of Aviagen Asia respectively.

The meeting covered a number of key themes through a varied and substantial agenda of presentations including the importance of biosecurity and health in an inter-trade environment and future strategies for emerging and existing markets in the region.

Bulent Tanyildizi, Ross International Commercial Manager, Middle East and Africa said:

"It was important that this year’s meeting looked at how we can share responsibility and work with our distributions more effectively moving forward. Another common theme over the two days was the importance of biosecurity and health in an inter-trade environment, something the presentations on the first day really focussed on.

"We were thrilled with the turnout and contribution from customers overall in what proved to be a fascinating and worthwhile couple of days in the fantastic setting of Osaka. Attendees also benefited from a hugely substantial programme of presentations from a host of key speakers."

Aviagen CEO Jan Henriksen opened the meeting by presenting Aviagen’s ‘three pillars of success’: products, people and purpose. A number of key Aviagen personnel were in attendance along with Bulent and Jan, including Tom Exley, Aviagen President of Asia, Middle East and Africa and Michael Garden, Aviagen Business Manager for the Middle East and Africa.

In addition to Nippon Chunky, guest speakers included Rupert Claxton from Gira Food, a consultancy & market research company operating throughout the worldwide food and drink chain, who gave a fascinating insight into the world meat markets and TMEA poultry market.

Jim McKay, Group Director for Science and Technology for EW Group presented on maintaining the health stature of distributor’s GP flocks, Colin Russell, Aviagen Consultant, presented on heat treatment of finished feed and Aviagen Anadolu’s state-of-the-art decontamination unit in Turkey, while Simon Carlton, TMEA Business Development Manager from Anitox, looked at how to keep feed bio-secure after heat treatment.

Atsuo Morikawa, Technical Services for Nippon Chunky was also on hand to provide an update on the Japanese poultry market and the long-standing, successful partnership between Nippon Chunky and Ross.

Outside of the meeting and business discussions, the group enjoyed a sightseeing visit to nearby Kyoto where they visited the famous Kiyomizu-dera and Kinkaku-ji temples and where they got to experience some traditional Japanese cuisine, Kimono fashion and Maiko dancing.