Aviagen’s UK Ross 400 Club celebrates the achievements of Ross broiler flock poultry farmers who have reached a European Production Efficiency Factor (EPEF) of 400 or more. Recently, Aviagen was pleased to be able to add a new name to the Club - Soanes Poultry, a family-owned business that has reared and prepared poultry for over 70 years in the Wolds of East Yorkshire.

Desire for 400 Club membership – a motivator for hard work

Stuart Thomson, Aviagen UK Head of Sales & Technical, travelled to the company’s headquarters in Driffield to present 400 Club awards and membership to Soanes’ Keith Edeson, who scored an EPEF of 418, and to his colleague Mark Ireland, who achieved an EPEF of 409.

“Aspiring to be part of the 400 Club is what inspires the winners to work so hard to achieve their scores,” says Stuart Thomson, “and it’s great to be able to welcome these new members to the Club. Membership has grown from just 3 to over 350 members in the last 9 years, and the high-scoring individuals in the 400 Club represent an exclusive top 1 percent of the UK poultry industry.”

Valued addition to Soanes’ awards record

When visiting Soanes’ head office, Stuart also met the company’s General Manager, Nigel Upson, who comments: “We’re delighted to become members of the Ross 400 Club, and it’s a great achievement for Keith and Mark to be able to stand alongside other distinguished growers in the 400 Club’s elite of British growers.”

Nigel also added that 400 Club membership was the perfect complement to the company’s recent Supreme Champion award, when one of its chicken products took top prize in the Deliciouslyorkshire Taste Awards, which celebrate the county’s finest food and drink.

About Aviagen

Since 1923, Aviagen has established itself as the world's leading poultry breeding company, developing pedigree lines for the production of commercial broiler chickens under the Arbor Acres, Indian River, and Ross brand names. The Rowan Range and Specialty Males are specialty breeding stock from Aviagen that offer greater flexibility for customers to meet specific or niche market requirements. The company is based in Huntsville, Alabama, USA with a number of wholly-owned operations across the United Kingdom, Europe, Turkey, Latin America, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the US, and joint ventures in Asia. Aviagen employs more than 4,600 people and has a distribution network serving customers in more than 100 countries.

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