Dominic Smith and Paul Welten will take on new responsibilities to position the company to better meet growing demand for Cobb products in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

• Dominic Smith has assumed the role of production director following the recent move of Richard Weatherley to the World Technical Support Team. A rising star on the Cobb team, he advanced from graduate trainee to director in a little more than a decade. Smith started his tenure at Cobb on the quality assurance team in 2008 after graduating from Writtle Agricultural College. In 2013 he relocated to the United States as a great grandparent-rearing manager and then returned to Europe where he worked on the production team. In his new role he will use his passion for learning different management techniques and how these influence performance traits in breeder broilers.
• Paul Welten was promoted from breeder specialist to the newly created role of senior technical service team manager. In this role, he will support EMEA’s growing technical team, leading the region’s four technical managers and assisting senior regional manager Nigel Strain. Welten has been a part of the Cobb team for over 26 years, delivering exceptional customer support in the Holland and Belgium markets. Born on a breeder farm in the Netherlands, poultry farming is in his DNA.

“We are always happy to recognise talent within the Cobb team, so it gives us great pleasure to see Dominic and Paul move into their new roles,” said Mark Sams, general manager of Cobb Europe. “Both of these individuals have unparalleled expertise and industry experience that will help support our regional growth plans and continued drive to support our customer needs.”

The region Dominic and Paul will oversee is quite diverse and has seen steady growth, averaging a 2-3% increase in annual poultry production. Countries like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Oman are pushing this growth as the Middle East strives to become more self-sufficient in poultry production.