Let’s do an uncomfortable exercise. Think of your three main competitors. How many of them will be in Utrecht on 2, 3 and 4 June, walking the aisles of VIV Europe 2026? If the answer is “I don’t know”, that lack of knowledge is, in itself, a competitive disadvantage.
VIV Europe is not just another trade show on the calendar. In its 25th edition, the Royal Jaarbeurs will bring together under one roof some 600 exhibitors and around 20,000 trade visitors from more than 130 countries. It is, quite simply, the point where the global animal protein industry decides which technology it will purchase, which genetics it will work with, and which supplier it will bring on board over the next two years. And those decisions are made in person, over three specific days.
The problem for those who cannot find a slot in their schedule and remain trapped in their daily operational fires is not missing an event. It is missing the conversation. While an integrator analyses new real-time monitoring systems on site, while a purchasing manager compares five equipment suppliers for setting up cage-free systems, or meets with the world’s leading hatchery equipment manufacturers in a single afternoon, while a poultry company manager closes deals that will never appear in any catalogue, the absent party will continue making decisions based on last year’s information.
The asymmetry is real and measurable. Those who attend VIV Europe return with a clear picture of where the industry is heading: the seven major challenges that will structure the conference programme, the innovations that have not yet reached the market, and the contacts that open new markets. It is no coincidence that many of the innovations that changed poultry farming forever were first seen at VIV Europe.
Those who were there knew about them many months before everyone else.
There is one piece of data worth bearing in mind: from 2026 onwards, VIV Europe will be held every two years. This means that anyone who does not attend in June will not have a second opportunity until 2028. Two years represent many production cycles, many investment decisions, and a great deal of accumulated advantage for those who were there.
The question, therefore, is not whether VIV Europe is worth the trip. The question is simpler and harder: when your competitors return from Utrecht knowing what you do not, what will you tell them?
For more information on the full event programme, the list of exhibitors, and to pre-register and obtain free accreditation for VIV Europe 2026, visit the official trade show website at: europe.viv.net
Source: VIV EUROPE
For more information:
-. VIV EUROPE 2026 Trade Show
