Magnus Swalander has been appointed global vice president of products for Aviagen. His appointment follows the approaching retirement of Craig Morton, who has been in the role for 36 years.
Swalander said he planned to connect with customers by meeting with them face-to-face and listen to their challenges. So far, he has visited customers in Europe, India, Turkey, and the United States. “It is important for us to develop products that meet the needs of our customers everywhere, and to do so it is absolutely necessary to talk to them, get their unique insight into not only what appeals to consumer tastes of today, but also the direction the market is headed for the future,” he said.
Swalander said Aviagen’s diverse gene pool makes it possible to offer customers choice, with a broad spectrum of breeds to meet diverse market needs.
“In addition to customer input, we also rely on market intelligence to anticipate future global trends and integrate them into our sustainable breeding and new product development programme,” he said. “We have a variety of data science and data analytics experts throughout the company who leverage data to predict future trends. As a result of this analysis, our customers can rely on the right bird for the right market, and at the right time.”
Another product development priority is breeding for welfare and sustainability. Performance qualities, such as broiler live weight and meat yield and egg production at the breeder level, are balanced with indicators of strong health and welfare, including robustness, cardiovascular fitness and skeletal strength.
Swalander will report to Alfons Koerhuis, chief technical officer of Aviagen Group. “This appointment underscores our commitment to R&D and its importance to product strategy,” said Koerhuis. “Magnus has a passion for our birds and our industry, and he will benefit this role with his extensive background and dedication to continuous improvement through innovation.”
