Wimex Group installs Genus Scale to detect egg fertilization status before incubation

Orbem and Vencomatic Group unlock the full potential of egg classification, empowering hatcheries to achieve unprecedented levels of efficiency.

January 23, 2025

Starting in April 2025, Wimex Group will be the first on the market to install the Genus Scale for in-ovo fertilization status detection at their hatchery in Groenlo, Netherlands. The Genus Scale system is provided by the German expert in AI-powered imaging Orbem and its Dutch automation partner Vencomatic Group. Wimex Group’s hatchery will become the first-ever hatchery to classify and sort fertilized eggs before incubation, a future-oriented move allowing them to enhance operational excellence, maximize production capacity, and increase sustainability.

The innovative Genus Scale system builds on Orbem and Vencomatic Group’s successful first product, the Genus Focus for in-ovo sexing. Using the same innovative combination of advanced MRI technology and AI, the Genus Scale detects the fertilization status of eggs before incubation. The introduction of a fertilization detection system into the hatchery process offers several advantages:

1. The early sorting of eggs into fertilized and unfertilized categories allows for more efficient operations and more sustainable resource use.

2. More incubator space is freed up for fertilized eggs.

3. Overall biosecurity is improved inside the incubator by eliminating the risk of contamination from exploding eggs.

4. Unfertilized eggs can be sold as table eggs, thus creating additional revenue for hatcheries and providing food for human consumption.

Dr. Pedro Gómez, Co-Founder and CEO of Orbem, comments, “Being able to empower integrated poultry organizations like Wimex Group with our solution for fertilization status detection simply feels great. We have previously showcased how innovative technologies can be scaled for practical use in the poultry industry and how high animal welfare and sustainability standards can go hand in hand with high levels of operational efficiency. We are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with Wimex Group to future-proof their operations and show the industry another highly impactful use case of our egg classification technology.”

“Integrated hatching egg and chick production in several stages of the broiler chicken value chain is our core business. Therefore, fertilization is the key to success for all our poultry operations. Methods to improve data quality, accuracy, and speed of the detection process of fertilization status have huge potential to contribute to our relentless pursuit of operational excellence. Orbem created a promising technique. We are proud to team up with such an innovative partner and to be the first company in the business to implement Genus Scale for fertilization status detection at scale ”, Leopold Graf von Drechsel, CEO of Wimex Group.

About our customer

Wimex Group is a family-owned agricultural company growing steadily in the areas of poultry, vegetables, fruit, energy, and smart farming. The poultry business unit is their largest division. They play a key role in the European value chain for chicken meat production and rank among the leading market players. The business unit poultry comprises three segments: broiler grandparent stock, broiler parent stock, and broiler hatcheries. They produce breeder chicks, broiler-hatching eggs, and broiler day-old chicks at various locations in Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. Sustainability and high animal welfare standards shape their operations.

Wimex Group

Orbem’s customer for fertilization status detection
in Regenstauf, Germany

About Orbem

At Orbem, we build a sustainable and healthy future by unleashing AI-powered imaging. We revolutionize the poultry industry by introducing contactless egg classification and analytics for all breeds, empowering our clients with data-driven decisions for production optimization. Present in four countries, we imagine new frontiers for our clients and partners through non-invasive in-ovo sexing, phenotyping, and fertilization status detection.

About Vencomatic Group

At Vencomatic Group, we have a 40-year legacy of providing innovative solutions along the entire Egg Way. Our commitment remains strong as we harmonize our values concerning animal welfare, sustainability, automation, and operational excellence to address the evolving demands of the global poultry industry.