The UK egg and poultry industry will gather at Celtic Manor in Newport on 1 and 2 November for the 59th Egg and Poultry Industry Conference (EPIC), with food security, reputation, and changing consumer behaviour among the issues set to feature in this year’s programme.
Under the theme “Feeding the Nation – Our Role Today, Our Reputation Tomorrow”, the conference will bring together producers, processors and industry leaders to consider the challenges facing the poultry sector and its role in the UK food system.
The event begins on Sunday evening with a drinks reception and carvery, followed by the opening address from National Farmers Union president Tom Bradshaw.
The main conference gets under way on Monday with EPIC organising committee chairman Jerry Glover welcoming delegates and Aimee Mahony, chief poultry adviser at the NFU, chairing proceedings.
Nick Allen, chief executive of the British Egg Industry Council, and Richard Griffiths, chief executive of the British Poultry Council and president of the International Poultry Council, will address delegates before farming minister Stephen Morgan is scheduled to speak.
The programme then turns to some of the wider forces affecting the food sector.
Julie Buech of Rabobank will examine the implications of GLP-1 weight-loss medications for the egg and poultry industries.
The rapid growth of drugs used for weight management has prompted wider questions about how changing appetite and dietary behaviour could affect food consumption, making this a particularly topical issue for producers and processors.
Fabio Brancher, agriculture operations director at Pilgrim’s Europe, will bring a processor perspective before John Alistair Clarke, former director of international affairs at the European Commission’s DG AGRI, senior EU trade negotiator and former head of the EU delegation to the WTO and UN, considers geopolitical influences on the poultry sector.
The morning will conclude with a panel discussion featuring Buech, Brancher, Clarke, Allen and Griffiths.
Monday afternoon will put the spotlight on the people who will shape the industry’s future.
The Derek Kelly Future Leaders Discussion will feature three younger industry figures: free-range egg producer and NFU Poultry Board member Ryan Dakin; Midlands broiler producer Will Oliver; and poultry vet and communications lead Dr Heather Elven.
The session will be moderated by Poultry Business editor Chloe Ryan.
The panel brings together perspectives from hatcheries, egg production, broiler production and veterinary science, offering an opportunity to explore both the challenges facing the sector and what the next generation believes needs to change.
The session also reflects EPIC’s wider commitment to bringing younger people into the industry through its Young Poultry Person Initiative, which provides fully funded places at the conference for people under 40.
The final substantive session will return to one of the conference’s central themes: reputation.
Paul Kelly, managing director of Kelly Turkeys, and Barney Kay, agricultural director at Noble Foods, will discuss brand and reputation – an increasingly important issue for an industry that faces scrutiny over production methods while competing with alternative claims and imported products.
The question of how the sector communicates its contribution to feeding the nation is likely to be particularly relevant as producers and processors seek to demonstrate the value of British eggs and poultry.
EPIC 2026 takes place at Celtic Manor, Newport, on 1 and 2 November.