He drew attention to the need to improve education and public awareness around what people eat. Two billion people are now classed as overweight or obese and often unaware that they choose too much of the wrong foods - what Dr Prikazsky referred to as the three S’s: sugar, salt and sodas. Whilst, surprisingly, in a region with rapidly growing economies, two in every ten children in Asia are stunted (prevented from growing or developing to their normal levels). The predominant staples in the Southeast Asian diet, rice and other cereals, contain lower utilisable protein and are low or lacking in necessary amino acids and micronutrients, such as iron and B complex vitamins readily found in meat, milk and eggs.

Turning to people’s general attitudes towards animal protein, he highlighted the fact that although food safety, quality, availability and price has “never been better”, that consumer confidence and trust in what they eat continues to fall.

To this end, the Ceva CEO encouraged producers to continue doing what they do best, focusing on:

• sustainable production of meat and eggs - producing more with less;
• ensure the highest levels of animal welfare;
• guaranteeing the safety of our food.

He pledged that Ceva would continue to support its customers by delivering innovative solutions that encourage the shift to more preventative health programmes based around improved biosecurity, vaccines and their application backed up by real time data and flock health monitoring.

In his closing remarks, Dr Prikazsky praised a group of young millennial Ceva managers from the Asia region, who have launched a corporate social responsibility programme, 'C our Future', that aims to draw more attention to the need to reduce stunting in Asia’s children, saying: “We all have on our mobile phones, pictures of our children, partners, pets and families. They are the ones who inspire us everyday. As an industry we should all take great pride in what we deliver both for our children and the future of humanity in line with Ceva’s vision, Together, beyond animal health.”