focus
W O R L D W I D E
THREE 2012
€5M EXPANSION FOR COBB ESPAÑOLA
in this issue
Cobb500: ‘A balanced
product that satisfies
everyone’
Why Cobb is winning favor in Russia.............4 and 5
With the Cobb500 enjoying its highest
ever sales in Spain, Cobb Española is
investing €5 million ($6.3m) this year in
expanding hatchery and farm output.
In the last six years the franchise
distributor has doubled sales to four
million parents a year through gaining a
bigger share of the market in Spain and
Portugal and developing new markets in
north Africa.
The Spanish are consuming an average
of 22 kg (48.5 lb) of chicken a year,
with Cobb representing 44 per cent of
the market. Across north Africa Cobb
Española is selling more than one
million parents / year to Morocco and
Algeria where it has exclusive
distribution rights and developing new
business in Tunisia.
The increasing popularity of Cobb in
Spain is because it suits all sectors of the production chain, says
general manager Rafael Gil junior. “It’s a balanced product that
satisfies everyone from the breeder farmer to the processing
plant.”
The first opportunity for expanding production came in 2006
with the purchase of the former Hybro grandparent facilities 250
km (156 miles) north of the Cobb Española’s headquarters at
Alcalá de Henares – months before the Hybro breed was acquired
by Cobb-Vantress, Inc.
The acquisition by Cobb Española brought the Hybro hatchery
at Dueñas and associated rearing and breeding farms. As Steve
Chapple explains in the main article inside, this ultimately
brought a dilemma – whether to expand the two hatcheries or go
for a new one.
The recently opened hatchery at Dueñas has a capacity of more
than five million chicks / year and has been designed to allow for
expansion to double this number.
continued on page 2
‘New concept’ seminars in China and Australia.....6
New thinking at World Technical School...................7
Cobb Germany organize hatchery workshop and
Wimex visit............................................................................7
Brazilians visit Siloam Springs.......................................8
Irvine’s host Cobb Africa technical school................8
Trucking award for Cobb-Vantress..............................8
Rafael Gil outside the new hatchery in northern Spain.
Premier award to Russia
One of southern Russia’s
largest poultry producers,
GAP Resourse, has received
one of Cobb’s premier awards
for breeder performance.
The organization’s chief
breeder technologist Pavel
Ivanenko tells us on page 5
why they consider Cobb the
best choice.
€5m EXPANSION FOR COBB ESPAÑOLA
continued from page 1
I asked Rafael about the decision to
build a brand new hatchery. “The
origins of Cobb Spain are at Alcalá de
Henares, just north east of Madrid.
That is where our first hatchery was
located and near to our grandparent
farms, he explained. “In 2006 we
thought it would be a good idea to
expand our facilities to a different area.
We did need more product but we also
thought that having two grandparent
production centers would be beneficial.
So, we bought the hatchery here in
Dueñas and three farms from Hybro
who had recently finished their
operations here.
Since then we have invested in this
area with more farms and other
investments until we got to the point
where we needed more hatchery space.
The board of directors at Cobb Spain
considered two main options: one was
to expand one of the two existing
hatcheries and the other was to build a
brand new hatchery and close the
other two, and that was what we did.”
He explained that although the investment was a little higher,
they now had a great asset that could be utilized for the greatest
benefit to the company.
This hatchery has double the production capacity of their two
old hatcheries. “We have also designed this hatchery for 100
percent future expansion,” Rafael explained. “The production
rooms are already sized for future expansion and we can easily
double the capacity of the setter and hatcher rooms when the time
comes.”
I asked Rafael if he had visited any hatcheries prior to making
the decision to go with Chick Master, “I went to the Cobb-Vantress
Lafayette parent stock hatchery in Tennessee after the 2011
Atlanta Show with your sales manager Gregory Vanputte. It was
impressive,”
Their new hatchery boasts 24 Avida A8-82 two-zone setters and
8 Zephyr C-272-82 hatchers with stainless steel interior panels.
The machines incorporate all of the latest Chick Master safety and
energy saving features such as variable frequency drives, hot
water heating for a fast warm-up to temperature after setting
using the copper coils in the setters, and the Break Glass in the
The other significant development is the stake
in the company now held by Cobb Germany
which replaced one of the Spanish shareholders
in 2009. Cobb-Vantress owns 50 percent of the
business with Rafael Gil senior retaining his
family’s share.
“This has been a positive move for the
company with Cobb Germany very supportive
of our investment and expansion plans,” says
Rafael Gil junior.
The investment takes place against a
background of economic difficulties for Spain.
“The supermarkets are putting a lot of pressure
on producers,” he says. “There are a few big
players at retail level and lots of players at
industry level, and uncertainty too about rising
feed prices.”
The economic difficulties have increased
consumer preference for whole birds rather than
portions or processed products, with whole
chickens selling at €2 per kg. Most of the
chicken is eaten at home – 17.5 kg out of the 22
kg / person / year with fresh chicken accounting
for 95 percent of sales.
Steve Chapple, marketing manager of Chick Master,
recounts his visit to the new Cobb Española hatchery in June
New hatchery opens with
sights on further expansion
“
I met Rafael Gil, Cobb Española's general manager, at a nearby
breeder farm. His family has had a relationship with Cobb that
goes back 42 years when the business was an independent
franchise.
We drove the few miles back to the hatchery under cloudless
blue skies through vast arable countryside famed for its nearby
Ribera del Duero vineyards.
The hatchery is very impressive from the outside with a huge
Cobb logo beaming out from the attractive cream and brick red
walls rising imperiously above immaculately landscaped gardens.
2
€5m EXPANSION FOR COBB ESPAÑOLA
Pictures clockwise from far left: Juan Carlos
Abad, technical director of Cobb Española,
inspecting chicks; Rafael Gil jnr in the new
hatchery; Ana Garcia, responsible for quality
control, working in the laboratory at the
hatchery; the hatchery team and the setter
room; the grandparent farm, one of three at
Dueñas purchased from Hybro.
and manage, this is one of the good
things about your equipment. They
are easy to clean and the ventilation
flow is very nice – the air easily
reaches all of the eggs.”
Cobb is using the 82-egg tray that
places two trays per frame. “It is a
good smaller tray, very manageable
on the farm and excellent for
transportation. They also work very
well especially with our automation
equipment,” he added.
As we toured this facility I was
introduced to Vidal Hernandez the
hatchery manager, who was in his
office carefully studying his Maestro
control system screen. This is Chick
Master's new hatchery management
and control system which brings all
the information generated by the
incubators and all other connected
equipment in the hatchery to a
single point for analysis that allows
for highly proactive and informed
management.
Cobb Española is the first
European hatchery to use this
system. “I can see the status of each incubation system as well as
the ventilation equipment, water chiller and much more,” said
Vidal. “It is easy to use, very informative and a great tool to help
me do my job even better.”
This hatchery also has
a Chick Master designed
and supplied energy
management system. A
large part of the system is
roof mounted so we
climbed up to the attic to
have a look. The impressive
central duct connects the
main air intake via ultra
violet light treatment and a
heat recovery coil to their
three air handling units. I
was intrigued to ask Rafael
about the decision to go
with this heat recovery and
energy management system
in this seemingly very hot
country, Rafael soon put
me straight, “Let me tell
you that of all the different
areas of Spain this one is
the coldest. It is 600m
above sea level and can get
down to 15˚C below zero in
winter. Most people have the image of Spain that is the
Mediterranean in the South where the climate is always very mild
but the center of Spain is very different.” It is projected that with
these conditions, Cobb Española will save enough to pay for the
heat recovery system in less than two years.
Pictures courtesy of Chick Master.
hatchers providing extra security and time
in the unlikely event of a critical situation.
The first eggs were set just six weeks prior
to our meeting, so I asked Rafael how the
start-up process had gone. “It went well,
like all new hatcheries we have the typical
issues because all of the machinery is
new so we have to continually make
adjustments until we are happy. We are
impressed with the quality and results we
are getting now but probably the quality we
will have in two months’ time will be better
still as we find the settings that work best.”
I asked how his team had found the
experience of working with the Avida
setters. “It really is an easy machine to use
3
COBB BUILDING SALES IN RUSSIA
Why Cobb is winning favor in Russia
By Irina Likhacheva, sales director of Cobb Russia
It is easy to manage a uniform Cobb flock – that is why the
benchmark for production peak has considerably increased and
accounts for 86–87 percent or sometimes even higher. The Cobb
female has a high persistency (over 80 percent during 8–10 weeks)
and high feed efficiency on low density feeds resulting in reduced
cost of egg production - an important criteria for the Russian
poultry sector.
Another distinguishing feature of Cobb is a high number of
hatching eggs (96–97 percent, on the average, for whole
production period). This is achieved through reduced breakage,
cracked and double yolk eggs during the beginning of the laying
period. Customers of Cobb also remark on the egg shell quality the shell remains strong during the whole production period with
a favorable effect on hatchability.
Improving livability is one of the priorities for Cobb with
experience in Russia showing that mortality and culling for the
period from 24-60 weeks in the best flocks is no more than 6
percent. The high livability of Cobb under recent abnormally high
temperatures in Russia has been confirmed this summer. Livability
is directly linked to flock economic efficiency: 1% less mortality
= 1.5 hatching eggs = 1.2 chicks!
Without argument the Cobb500 is a leader in fertility. Today a
marked difference in increased hatchability with Cobb – especially
after 45th week of age - has been acknowledged by all specialists
working in Russia with different breeds. In Russia the average
hatchability for the whole production period accounts for over
82% with over 83.5% in the best flocks. This high hatchability is
an undoubted merit of the Cobb male.
The male is very active, almost aggressive and does not require
any special conditions for good growth and mating. That is why
the recommended number of males in a unit has been decreased
from 14 to 13 per 100 females – adequate to ensure the right
number of males for the main flock and also for spiking.
Although it is relatively recent that the Cobb500 has been used
in Russia, the average chick number is recorded at 125-127 per
hen housed, with 130 in many operations, and 135 chicks on the
best farms, up to 62 weeks. And this is just the beginning.
Cobb breeding stock has received deserved appreciation from
Russian customers. Today Cobb broiler breeders are grown in such
large-scale operations of Russia as Cherkizovo Group (Lipetsk,
Voronezh and Penza regions), GAP Resourse (Stavropol and
Krasnodar Krai)), Belaya Ptitsa and Belgrankorm (Belgorod
Region), Chelny Broiler (Tatarstan), Severnaya farm (Leningrad
region), Verkhnevolzhskaya Farm (Tver region), Elinar-Broiler and
Assortment (Moscow region) and Kubansky Broiler (Krasnodar Krai).
In 2012 Cobb shipments went to Mary El (Marijskaya Farm), In
April the first flock of parents was delivered to SMENA (Moscow
region), while in May first flocks went to Kursk region. All Cobb
breeding stock is shipped to Russia from the Netherlands and
Germany, but in 2013 day-old chicks will be also supplied from
the new Cobb hatchery in the Moscow region.
Cobb’s experienced and highly knowledgeable technical
specialists assist Russian customers to achieve a high genetic
potential of the breed. Cobb customers all over the world highly
value Cobb technical service and customer support, with training
on all aspects of breeding stock and broiler management provided
by the company.
The Cobb500, introduced to Russia in 2008, already accounts for
around a quarter of the broiler breeding market.
The genetic potential of the Cobb500 is able to achieve high
performance results without any special management techniques.
At the same time, it is a ‘very forgiving’ breed that is easy to work
with.
Cobb breeding stock has been designed for even growth, with
the chicks capable of high uniformity from the first days. Many
Cobb customers achieve 80 percent flock uniformity even before
the first selection, because both male and female lines are selected
for broiler traits almost at the same level.
The breed has the ability to reach target liveweight on low
density feeds. This facilitates management and growing of pullets,
while considerably reducing the cost of production. At the same
time the volume of consumed feed is increased as well as the time
of feed consumption which in turn results in improved flock
uniformity and eliminates stresses.
Cobb premier breeder award
for major Russian producer
GAP Resourse, has been presented with one of Cobb’s awards
for premier breeder performance.
The organization has achieved an average 135.4 chicks /
breeder to 63 weeks of age and 133.1 chicks / breeder to 61
weeks in flocks on its Druzhba and Novokorsunskaya sites.
The plaque celebrating the achievement was presented to
Pavel Ivanenko, chief technologist for broiler breeders with
GAP Resourse, by Patrick van Trijp, Cobb Europe regional
manager.
Patrick van Trijp, [right] Cobb Europe regional manager, presenting
the award to Pavel Ivanenko, chief technologist for broiler breeders
with GAP Resourse.
4
COBB BUILDING SALES IN RUSSIA
In Russia we conduct technical seminars for each large
customer, with topics chosen by the customer. In March a
technical seminar was conducted at Chicken Kingdom for all
specialists and workers of Cherkizovo holding company. The topic
was optimal development of broilers, with Cobb represented by
Bukreneva Galina, technical manager for Russia and CIS, Patrick
van Trijp, technical director for Russia, and Matthew Wilson,
technical director of Cobb Europe.
Similar seminars are planned to feature hatchery, incubation,
veterinary issues and breeding stock management. Other
technical seminars will be conducted for Belgrankorm, ChelnyBroiler and GAP Resourse companies. Such activity provides
for close contacts and training of a much larger number of
specialists of each company with great benefit for poultry
specialists.
Performance results of Cobb breed improve day by day, along
with the growth in breed popularity and reputation of Cobb
specialists who deal professionally with both technical and
commercial issues. We care for our partners and customers and
are always eager to provide support and assistance.
‘Our relations with Cobb remain on the highest level’
reproduced from the magazine Animal Husbandry of Russia, June 2012
Group of Agro Industrial enterprises - GAP Resourse - is one of
the largest poultry producers in southern Russia.
For a few years now the company has been using Cobb500
broiler breeders and has achieved the best breeding
performance results for 2011 among all customers of this breed
in Russia, which was marked by a special award on behalf of
Cobb Europe.
This success is featured in
our conversation with Pavel
Ivanenko, chief technologist for
broiler breeders.
chicks can be stimulated at the same time and readily achieve
peak production of 85%.
One further trait of the Cobb breed should also be mentioned
– an aggressive male, which helps to ensure a high number of
day-old chicks. The Cobb male is noted for its high fertility:
peak persistency can be four weeks, as a minimum. Hatchability
for the whole flock averages
84%.
In general, our specialists
consider this breed the most
efficient one for using both as
broiler breeders and broilers.
We are satisfied with the results
that we achieve both in winter
and summer.
Pavel Ivanenko, please, tell us
about your company?
Resourse is producing over
100 different products from
poultry meat and, with a wide
distribution network, works with
the leading market retailers. The
company has many commercial
and trade representatives located
across seven federal areas and
its own distribution pool
ranging from Moscow to SouthSakhalinsk.
Poultry production is located
on 10 parent and 22 broiler
farms with under floor heating.
What performance results have
been recorded in your company
in the best broiler breeder
flocks?
164.6 and 162 hatching eggs
and 135.4 (63.5 weeks) and
133.1 (61 weeks) chicks have
been produced on Druzhba
and Novokorsunskaya sites
(Krasnodar Krai).
Hatchability for closed flocks
accounted for 83.5-84% with
90% livability. Amount of
consumed feed — 300 grams/doc. Uniformity in rearing flocks
reaches 90% and livability 98%.
How long have you been working with Cobb broiler breeders?
Since the middle of 2008. At that time we placed the order for
95,000 Cobb day-old breeder chicks - females. Today the
company demand for broiler chicks is satisfied 70% by internal
breeding flocks, with the rest supplied as hatching eggs by our
business partners.
And what about commercial and technical service relations
provided by Cobb specialists, are you satisfied?
Our relations for all the years that we’ve been working with
Cobb has remained on the highest level. This relates to both
initial stages of relations to include contract signing and sales
administrations as well as technical service to support the breed.
There wasn’t a single issue not answered within the shortest
possible time. It is also to the benefit of the breed that Cobb
conducts technical training of our specialists. Cobb consultants
are quick in organizing seminars and training for the workers of
our group enterprises.
…, why this particular breed has been chosen?
Cobb500 is considered the most efficient meat breed all over
the world. Fast growth, high uniformity and high livability are
marked by both breeder and broiler specialists. We achieve 98%
of livability in the 20th week and 90% in the 64th. It is very easy
to get 92-95% uniformity in Cobb replacement flock for 140
days of growth. It is easy to manage a good uniform flock: all
5
NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
More than 1250 take part in ‘new concept’
Cobb seminars
A series of travelling seminars organised by Cobb in China
and Australia has provided specialist technical help for more
than 1250 participants – and now further seminars are
planned in other Asian countries.
“We trialed the concept in Australia with great success last
November with more than 500 people from our customers
taking part,” said Duncan Granshaw, general manager of
Cobb Asia.
“With the further success of our four seminars at three
locations in China, we‘re planning to use same concept in
the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand this year and we’ve
now been requested to have a second one in Australia.”
The Chinese seminars took place at Weifang, Shenyang
and Zhengzhou for representatives from 120 independent
customers, with technical personnel from Tyson and the
Bruce Zhou (left), Tyson Shandong live management service manager, and Bill
Beijing Poultry Breeding Company as well as Cobb.
Hewat, Tyson International live production director and head veterinarian,
“We were aware that for our customers, distributors and speaking at Weifang.
Cobb users it was becoming increasingly difficult to free up
personnel to travel to seminars in their home countries or even Leahy, national livestock operations manager, Baiada Poultry,
Australia. “It covered all our geographic areas which use Cobb
more so overseas,” said Duncan Granshaw.
“We also knew that with our expanding number of distributors and all disciplines — broilers, breeders hatchery and nutrition —
the highly regarded annual Cobb world technical school over two and all tiers of management, enabling all to interact in a familiar
weeks in the USA and the smaller seminars by our technical environment.
“Being the first held using this model, the exercise was refined
service team couldn’t reach nearly as many as we would like. So
we thought we’d also take seminars and workshops with several as we went on and improved by the Cobb experts visiting the
local areas before seminars. In this way both Cobb people and
presenters to our customers.
“The idea of a travelling seminar held at several locations in one our own were sharing information and context.
“The benefit, beyond the initial exchange, is building
country evolved. In Australia we held five seminar/workshops,
each in a different location, and also had several field visits relationships at different levels within both businesses.
Maintaining these relationships will be the key to optimising
covering broiler and breeder farms as well as hatcheries.
“We asked the Cobb users for their areas of concern and tailored performance of the Cobb bird in our market.”
Mr Granshaw said this had proved to be a highly successful
a seminar to suit the concerns, coupled with field visits. Our team
was totally familiar with any problems and with the customer’s model, aimed at all levels within customers, from junior
farms and hatcheries before the presentations and workshops. employees just starting in the industry up to senior managers.
“The individual customers organized the venues and invited all
Instead of giving a generic presentation, they were able to talk
the attendees for each seminar, so they were completely
about specific and familiar issues.”
“The exercise was very worthwhile,” commented Michael comfortable with what was discussed,” he added.
“We provided the appropriate
presenters from our World
Technical Support Team and
from our enhanced Asian team.
We’ve covered all aspects of
the industry from grandparent
management through parent
stock, hatcheries, broilers and
nutrition. “It has proved to be an
excellent way of further helping
our customers, coupled with the
world technical school, regular
service visits on a requested and
routine basis and visits from the
World Technical Support Team
we are enabling all Cobb users to
get the very best from our
The CP China team with BPBC and Cobb world and regional technical advisers at Shenyang.
products.”
6
NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
World Technical School ‘opens up new alternatives’
Forty-six participants from 25 countries took part in the 13th
World Technical School organized by Cobb-Vantress at Siloam
Springs, Arkansas, USA.
For the second year running, a webcast enabled online
participants to share in some of the live presentations,
which can still be accessed through the company’s website at
www.cobb-vantress.com
“The 12-day program we’ve developed uses presentations, visits
to facilities and case studies to show customers different methods
to obtain information and how to use this data when they return
to their own operations,” said Gail Thorp, Cobb production
administrator who organized the event.
“We’ve again received very positive feedback about the value of
sharing contacts between customers in different countries as well
as the learning and updating technical knowledge during the
school.”
Mexican participant Jorge Aguirre, from Pilgrims Mexico,
commented: “This provided very valuable experience opening up
new alternatives in the way I go about my daily schedule.”
The program included visits to the University of Arkansas,
breeder and broiler farms, a hatchery, processing plant and the
Tyson Foods Discovery Center as well as presentations by members
of the Cobb World Technical Support Team and invited specialists.
There were also exercises at the local John Brown University where
the participants performed tasks designed to foster leadership and
team building skills.
Students performing a team building exercise at the John Brown University.
Toasting Mach success 20 years on
Jiri Mach unwraps the celebratory gift from Cobb - watched by (from left to right), Leopold Graf
von Drechsel general manager Cobb Germany, Lubor Skalka market manager Cobb Germany,
Jerry Moye, Cobb president (centre), and Roy Mutimer, general manager, Cobb Europe.
Five hundred guests from Europe and the United States celebrated in July the 20th
anniversary of the founding of the Mach Drubez Company in Litomysl, Czech
Republic.
In that period the family-owned Mach company has become one of the biggest
hatchery businesses in Europe, expanding capacity from 10 million to now 165
million broiler chicks / year with 1.5 million breeders in production.
The company represents 40 percent of the Czech market and 60 percent of the
Slovak market. Sales to other EU countries and Ukraine have expanded considerably
in recent years, with hatching eggs also sold to Russia, Iraq and Belorussia.
From the very beginning Jirí Mach has focused on the quality of day-old chicks
and has worked with the Cobb breed since the first days.
“We have benefited from the Cobb500’s breeder feed saving, high hatchability and
consistent chick quality,” says Jirí Mach. “We also greatly value the excellent
relationship with Cobb Germany and the support we receive from Cobb’s European
and worldwide technical teams.”
7
Wimex visit impresses
Wiesenhof broiler farmers
Twenty five farmers from the Erzeugergemeinschaft Süd-West producer group visited the
Wimex operations in the Baasdorf region to learn
more about the company, particularly the
breeding and performance of Cobb500 parent
stock.
The farmers, who grow chickens for Europe’s
largest poultry meat producer Wiesenhof at Bogen,
Bavaria, were welcomed by Gerhard Wagner,
founder of Wimex, outlining the historical
development of his company and describing its
broad-ranging activities today.
“The visit provided an extensive overview of our
activities for our guests who were impressed by
what we’re doing at Wimex and enthusiastic about
the performance of Cobb500,” said Graf Leopold
von Drechsel, Wimex managing director.
Delegates outside Wimex headquarters at Baasdorf.
NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Trucking award for Cobb-Vantress
More than three million miles (4.8 million km) without one
accident for 2011 – that’s the achievement that earned
Cobb-Vantress the Grand
Champion award from
the Arkansas Trucking
Association.
The association,
w h i c h conducts annual
awards to recognize fleets
with impressive safety
records, reports that Cobb
drivers logged 3.2 million
miles without an accident
for 2011 and beat 19 other
fleets registered for the competition.
“This is a prime example of the dedication to safe fleet
operations by Cobb-Vantress and our entire Cobb transportation
team. We are extremely proud of our drivers for achieving this
accomplishment,” states Merrill Bishop, director of Cobb US
transportation.
Kevin Jones, Cobb transportation coordinator for Southwest Fleet, is
presented with this impressive crystal truck and ‘Fleet Safety Grand
Champion’ plaque by Sarah Sheets, director of operations for ATA.
Brazilian partner companies
visit Cobb global HQ
Irvine’s host Cobb Africa
Tech School
Representatives of some of the leading poultry producers from the
Brazilian state of Parana enjoyed a high-level visit to the Cobb
headquarters and field operations in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, USA.
Origanized by Cobb-Vantress Brasil, the party involving delegates
from C Vale – Cooperativa Agroindustrial, Coopavel - Cooperativa
Agroindustrial, Copacol - Cooperativa Agroindustrial Consolata and
Cooperativa Agroindustrial LAR, were given an insight into the global
poultry industry from Donnie Smith, president of Tyson Foods, and
Jerry Moye, president of Cobb.
“The visit provided an excellent opportunity to share experiences
between our Brazilian company, our partner companies and senior
Cobb and Tyson executives,” said Jairo Arenázio, general manager for
Cobb-Vantress Brasil.
More than 100 delegates from nine African countries took part
in a three-day Cobb technical school organised by Cobb Africa
and run at Irvine’s Zimbabwe at Harare.
Twenty international parent stock customers from countries
stretching from Senegal to Mauritius were joined by customers
from Zimbabwe, contract growers for Irvine’s Zimbabwe and
technical staff.
“There was excellent participation from all delegates making
the school a huge success,” said Patrick Murphy, general manager
of Cobb Africa. “The school provided very useful training with
guest speakers from four countries.”
Managing director David Irvine welcomed everyone to the
school at a dinner hosted
at his home, and gave a
history of the 50 years he
has been working with
Cobb.
Among the other
international speakers
joining Tom Wierda and
Dr Wouter Steenhuisen
(pictured during a
practical demonstration)
from Cobb Africa were Mark Foote and David Brandt.
cobb-vantress.com
8