Dutch Poultry Centre

Since its founding in January 2005, the Dutch Poultry Centre has been the marketplace where poultry businesses meet, share ideas and start projects.

Cooperation and innovation
Rather than focusing on problems, the Dutch Poultry Centre seeks solutions and new energy, relying on the power of cooperation and innovation. The goal is to improve the sector’s image nationally and abroad, to increase its strength through innovation, to share and expand knowledge, to reposition the supply chains in the Dutch sector and generally promote the sector and its businesses.

Growing list of partners
Entrepreneurs, governments and research institutes first met at the end of 2003 during the avian flu epidemic. About a year later, they founded the Poultry Centre. Since then, many organizations have got involved by becoming partners. Their numbers are still rising. They send a joint representation to international trade fairs. Other promotions and communications carry a common logo.

Education and business interact
The businesses that run the Dutch Poultry Centre operate on market-driven principles. One requirement for innovation is shortening the distance from business to business and from business to knowledge sector (both education and research). To achieve this, the Dutch Poultry Centre encourages interaction by bringing entrepreneurs together for thematic meetings, the market café and company visits. It also matches entrepreneurs for projects.

Setting the innovation agenda
Food Valley has talked to all the poultry member businesses about their innovation agendas and the possibility of lending them support. This led to a 10-step plan detailing how to increase the sector’s cooperation, knowledge development, innovativeness and competitiveness. The talks also led to the development of new projects, for instance on increasing the economic value of organic boiling chickens, preserving expertise in the sector, and finding alternatives for sexing chicks. The Dutch Poultry Centre and Food Valley have entered a formal cooperation agreement to stimulate innovation in the poultry sector.