The EW Group is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

multinational family-owned

livestock breeding Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, start ...

group. It is the world market leader in breeding and genetics of

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, ...

and

tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most ...

. It comprises 53 German and 220 foreign companies under the parent company ''EW Group GmbH'' with headquarters in

Visbek Visbek (Old Saxon ''Fiscbechi'') is a municipality in the district of Vechta, in the Oldenburg Münsterland region of the state of Lower Saxony, Germany. Location and municipal subdivisions Visbek lies on the North German Plain, approximately ...

. Founder and manager of the group is Erich Wesjohann. In 2020/2021, EW Group generated €3.182 billion revenue. Approximately 80 % of its revenue generated from animal breeding. The group serves customers in more than 160 countries. 39.55 % of sales were generated in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, 29.18 % in North America, 11.12 % in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, and 20.14 % in the rest of the world.

History

In 1999 Erich Wesjohann established the EW Group after he and his brother Paul-Heinz Wesjohann split up the ''Lohmann-Wesjohann-Group'' they had jointly lead until then. In turn, Paul-Heinz Wesjohann established the PHW Group, which evolved into one of the largest poultry farming company in Europe. The common predecessor ''Lohmann-Wesjohann-Group'' dates back to 1932 when Paul Wesjohann, their father, founded an agricultural trade business with a

hatchery A hatchery is a facility where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions, especially those of fish, poultry or even turtles. It may be used for ex-situ conservation purposes, i.e. to breed rare or endangered species under controlled cond ...

in Rechterfeld and the same year but independently Heinz Lohmann founded a

fishmeal Fish meal is a commercial product made from whole wild-caught fish, bycatch and fish by-products to feed farm animals, e.g., pigs, poultry, and farmed fish.R. D. Miles and F. A. Chapman.FA122: The Benefits of Fish Meal in Aquaculture DietsFisheri ...

factory in

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...

which they later merged. 2012-02-22-Fotoflugkurs_Cuxhaven-Bin_im_Garten_0032

Initially, the EW Group focused on laying hen genetics, being the world market leader for laying hen breeding. Since 2005, the EW Group expanded also into

broiler A broiler is any chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') that is bred and raised specifically for meat production. Most commercial broilers reach slaughter weight between four and six weeks of age, although slower growing breeds reach slaught ...

genetics and bought the world market leader for broiler breeding ''Aviagen''. In 2015, the EW Group became shareholder of the ''Plukon Food Group'', one of the largest poultry farming companies in Europe. Subsequently, the EW Group acquired the broiler breeder ''Hubbard'' from ''Groupe Grimaud'' in 2018 and the French laying hen breeder ''Novogen'' as well as its Dutch distributor ''Verbeek'' in 2021. Since 2008, the EW Group acquired multiple fish breeding and genetics companies: ''AquaGen'' (

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...

) in 2008, ''GenoMar'' (tilapia) in 2017 and ''AquaAmerica'' (tilapia) in 2020.

Animal Breeding

Laying hens

The laying hen breeding comprises four independent subsidiaries ''Lohmann Breeders'' (Germany, Lohmann Brown), Hy-Line International (

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

), ''H&N International'' (Germany) and ''Novogen'' (France). Of the well over 7 billion laying hens kept worldwide, the EW Group was indirectly responsible for approximately 2-3 billion laying hens in 2019.

Fattening poultry

The subgroup Aviagen is the world's leading supplier of breeding stock for broiler and

turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

s. Important broiler breeds are ''Ross'', ''Arbor Acres'', ''Indian River'' and ''Rowan Range''. Especially the breed ''Ross'' is one of the globally predominant breeds, with many tens of billions of chicken distributed over the last decade. In addition, there are further breeding programs operated by the subsidiary ''Hubbard''. Important turkey breeds are ''Nicholas Turkeys'', ''Hockenhull Turkeys'' and ''B.U.T.''

Fish

As a supplier for

fish farming upright=1.3, Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye">mariculture.html" ;"title="Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture">Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye, Scotland Fish farming or ...

and aquaculture, the EW Group operates through the following subsidiaries:

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

-based ''AquaGen'' specialized in salmon and trout, Norwegian-based ''GenoMar'' specialized in tilapia, and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

-based ''AquaAmerica'' also specialized in tilapia.

Criticism

Animal welfare organizations criticize that the breed ''Ross'' is so fast-growing that their hearts and bone structures are compromised, leading to a higher mortality, lameness and muscle disease. The subsidiary ''Lohmann Tierzucht'' was legally convicted of

animal cruelty Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction by omission (neglect) or by commission by humans of suffering or harm upon non-human animals. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm or su ...

in 2011.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Meat companies of Germany Poultry companies Animal food manufacturers Companies based in Lower Saxony Food and drink companies established in 1999 Family businesses of Germany German companies established in 1999 Vechta (district)