Producer
EW Group GmbH
EW Group GmbH (Visbek, Lower Saxony, Germany; private, family-owned by the Wesjohann family; founded 1932 as an egg-trading business; estimated annual revenue €3B+ across all divisions) is the parent company of Hy-Line International (the world's #1 layer genetics company by chick volume) and Lohmann Tierzucht GmbH (dominant in Europe and Asia). EW Group is a closely held German family business — the Wesjohann family simultaneously controls PHW-Gruppe, Germany's largest poultry meat company (including Wiesenhof chicken), making EW Group a uniquely integrated genetics-to-meat conglomerate. Through Hy-Line and Lohmann together, EW Group controls approximately 45% of world commercial layer genetics. EW Group also owns Aviagen (broiler genetics) — a Scottish company that breeds Ross and Arbor Acres broiler lines (dominant in global broiler meat production) — meaning a single German family controls the dominant genetics for BOTH the world's egg supply (through Hy-Line + Lohmann) AND a large share of the world's chicken meat supply (through Aviagen). This dual-market position makes EW Group the most consequential private family business in global food production that most people have never heard of.
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Layer Hen Genetics (World #1)
35%Broiler Chicken Genetics (Aviagen)
35%Poultry Meat (PHW-Gruppe/Wiesenhof)
25%Animal Health and Feed
5%
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Concentration2023
EW Group (Erich Wesjohann family, Visbek, Germany — privately held, 300+ subsidiaries) controls the genetic blueprints for broilers (Aviagen + Hubbard), turkeys (Aviagen Turkeys — formed from British United Turkeys + Nicholas Turkey Breeding, 2008), layers (Lohmann Breeders, Hy-Line International, H&N International, Novogen), and Atlantic salmon (AquaGen, Norway). A single German family effectively determines the genetic starting point for the world's chicken, turkey, and salmon industries simultaneously. No regulatory body — national or supranational — oversees EW Group's concentration across these four food animal species.
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