The Caribbean Poultry Association on 19 & 20 September 2014 held a Technical Symposium in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago at the Radisson Trinidad Hotel to celebrate fifty years of Caribbean Poultry. Even though the industry in Jamaica is older than fifty years, it was an opportune time for the region as a whole to get together to celebrate this unique achievement. The event was co-hosted by the Government of Trinidad & Tobago through the Ministry of Food Production, the Livestock & Livestock Products Board of Trinidad & Tobago, the Poultry Association of Trinidad & Tobago and the United States Soybean Export Council.

We acknowledge with thanks and gratitude the additional financial support for the event which was provided by Arawak & Co. Ltd., the GAP SA Grains Group, Griffith Laboratories Master Mix of Trinidad Ltd., the Nutrina Group, Prestige Holdings Ltd. and Warnerville Grain Mills Group Ltd.

Attendance at the event averaged seventy five persons per day. They came from Barbados, Belize, Columbia, Costa Rica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Suriname, United States of America, Venezuela and of course from Trinidad & Tobago.

Over the one and one-half days, there were technical presentations in the following areas:

• Providing Food Security & Customer Value
• The Challenges of Public Procurement
• Productivity in Production & Processing
• Sustainability
• Trade
• Quo Vadis – Towards the Next Fifty Years

At the Opening Session, Professor Karen Christensen from the Center for Excellence in     Poultry Science, University of Arkansas, USA gave a presentation on The Journey Then and Now – From Wild Birds to the Modern Broilers & Layers.

Mr Syd Mogg, Vice President of Marketing & Sales at WINCORP International gave a summary of the Proceedings in which he extolled the virtues of the achievements of the industry to date and impressed on participants and the industry to focus on the needs of     our customers, our staff, our shareholders, our many suppliers and the Government as we move towards the future.

Mr. Mogg thanked the Government of Trinidad & Tobago through the Ministry of Food Production and the Livestock & Livestock Products Board for co-hosting the symposium, all co-hosts and co-sponsors for their many contributions, the speakers for their well-thought out contributions, the Press for their support, the Radisson Hotel for their attention to detail, all attendees for their interest and finally the Caribbean Poultry Association for their initiative in putting together this superb technical symposium.