Can increased animal welfare go hand in hand with improved efficiency and thus additional profitability? In the generally conservative sector of day-old chicks for poultry farming, the start-up NestBorn proves that it can. A great step forward when you know that 265 million chicks hatch in Belgium every year.
The growing consumer sensitivity around animal welfare in the food chain came as no surprise to Steven Vervaeke of the family-run hatchery group Yellow Bird. "Even now that I am the third generation to run the company, together with the Destrooper and Moonen families, we closely follow market trends and remain forerunners in the day-old chicks sector. To respond to the shift in social support, we created a research and development department in 2017."
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Goede klimaatcontrole"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":""We tested different techniques to improve chick welfare through early feeding (in the hatchery and in the barn). Finally, with NestBorn, we drew a different card by outsourcing part of our core business to our customer. Instead of transporting day-old chicks, which break out of the egg after 21 days in the hatchery, we 'plant' the eggs after 18 days on bedding in the poultry farmers' houses."
Conservationist minds thought we were spoiling the craft of hatchery.
"Thanks to good climate control at the farm, those eggs hatch three days later. The chicks get immediate access to water and feed. During the internal innovation process, not everyone was convinced that we were going the right way. Conservationist minds thought we were spoiling the craft of hatchery."
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Verdient navolging"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"Far from "spoiling," thinks Willem ter Heerdt, Head of Food & Agri at ING Belgium. "NestBorn's philosophy deserves to be emulated. For the past 50 years, the food industry's focus was mainly on efficiency gains, but we are gradually ending that era. NestBorn proves that parent company Yellow Bird has understood that sustainability will become one of the essential aspects of business in the coming decades."
"To come to that understanding, they really didn't need us to point fingers at impending stricter regulations. Our role was that of an expert in-between, bringing different parties together to maximize the potential of the start-up. It is not wrong to say that the sustainable transition also leads to the transition of the bank."
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"More efficient and healthier"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"It soon became apparent that NestBorn not only benefits animal welfare because it causes less stress to the chicks, but also increases animal efficiency. Erik Hoeven, NestBorn general manager who distributes the technique worldwide (already in eight European countries and as of 2025 also in the U.S.), says: "There is less mortality and the chicks better utilize their growth potential. They are also healthier, halving antibiotic use - a big plus for our food safety."
We change our industry in the barn, not behind a desk somewhere on the seventh floor.
Animal welfare and responsible antibiotic use are by far the most important actions in the context of sustainability, the "material topics," at parent company Yellow Bird, which supplies hundreds of poultry farmers in northwestern Europe. "We are therefore very proud of NestBorn. The best innovations are the result of common farm sense, practical experience and sense of innovation among our fantastic employees within Yellow Bird," says Steven Vervaeke. "We change our industry in the barn, not behind a desk somewhere on the seventh floor."
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Klanten slimmer maken"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"Willem ter Heerdt points out that ING offers added value for customers thanks to a unique and sustainability-oriented approach. "Banking products of financial institutions are more or less interchangeable, but when I started as an agricultural advisor at ING Belgium in 1998, this did not yet exist. In the meantime, we have built up a broad and deep sector knowledge of the entire value chain: from raw material suppliers over the agriculture and horticulture sector to when the food products are packaged, ready for the store."
How to take meaningful and profitable initiatives regarding animal welfare, that's what counts.
"It is crucial that a bank understands the business model of its clients, knows how everything works and how money is made. Saying that you think animal welfare is important is far too easy. How you take meaningful and profitable initiatives around it is what counts. The first thing we have to do is listen to our clients and make them smarter by giving them access to our knowledge network," concludes ter Heerdt.
"}},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"These article was previously published in Trends/Tendances.
"},"title":"Clever Together"}]},"hasMacro":false,"id":"01e1f4cb-bc46-4e30-ae7a-1e1343b5011d","legalZone":{"flexComponents":[{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"Society is transitioning to a low-carbon economy. So are our clients, and so is ING. We finance a lot of sustainable activities, but we still finance more that’s not. See how we’re progressing on ing.com/climate.
"}}]},"localeString":"en-GB","mainHeaderZone":{"backLink":{"textLink":{"text":"Sustainability is everyone's business","url":"/en/business/sustainable-business"}},"componentType":"editorialHeader","coreHeader":{"body":"In the poultry industry, the start-up NestBorn is taking a groundbreaking step. By combining innovative techniques with a focus on animal welfare, the company is proving that efficiency and animal welfare can go hand in hand.","title":"Start-up NestBorn combines innovation, animal welfare and profitability "},"date":"2024-09-26","readingTime":0},"publishDate":"2024-11-18T15:43:22.123+01:00"}}