The National Union of Poultry Farmers (NUPF) was established and launched in March to help the sector grow exports and address new challenges and potential threats.
According to a group statement, the NUPF is “committed to corporate ethics, transparency, openness, and cooperation with any stakeholders, while also looking to help accomplish important development goals of domestic poultry farming and improve its reputation in Russia and abroad”.
The union’s board of directors includes representatives from top poultry producers, including the Resource Group of Companies, PRODO Group, Cherkizovo Group, Prioskolie, the Tkachev Agrocomplex and BEZRK-Belgrankorm.
The union is led by Sergei Latukhov, former head of the Russian Veterinary Association, who was appointed the union’s director general.
“The union will be concentrating on promoting Russian poultry products in both domestic and foreign markets and supporting in-depth industry research,” said Latukhov. “The latter is aimed at bringing a better understanding of poultry farming matters to government and public audiences and providing the relevant federal and regional legislative and executive authorities with recommendations on how to create a welcoming business environment for continued growth in poultry production.”
Priorities
According to the group, the period of extensive growth in Russian poultry farming has ended, and the NUPF believes that a qualitative improvement in performance, powered by the most advanced technologies in rearing, slaughtering and processing and digitisation in production management, is the high-priority measure that can help the country retain its position as a global industry leader.
It said the NUPF’s main areas of focus was to bring together key industry players in a bid to bolster and promote commercial poultry farming in Russia, make its produce ever more competitive and spur domestic demand for poultry products. Other priorities included unlocking the industry’s export potential through ensuring high quality and safety standards, strengthening the country’s role in the global poultry market and boosting sales abroad.
The NUPF also plans to engage with industry research and development professionals to deliver new technological solutions to the national poultry market.
It said it was seeking to play a dedicated hands-on role in devising and implementing national programs tackling dangerous animal diseases to ensure safer products, as well as government aid programs aimed at improving competitiveness and export expansion in the agribusiness sector. The union was also looking for opportunities to cooperate with similar foreign and international associations, and to have a stronger involvement in considering and addressing global poultry farming issues.