The company was founded, however, on the basis of much more than 10 years of experience. Its foundations date back to 1998, when the French genetics company Gene+ was founded. The name Axiom was introduced when Gene+ merged with the French genetics company ADN in 2016.
Much of the growth since 2020 occurred under the guidance of CEO Guillaume Naveau, age 42. Under his leadership, Axiom acquired a large part of the genetics company Choice, in late 2023. He looks back at the event “with a great sense of pride”. He says, “We succeeded in creating a genuine meeting point for our international ecosystem, and that is a great source of satisfaction for the entire Axiom team.”
Q
10 years of Axiom. What makes you proud?
“The development of Axiom and the trust placed in our genetics by major global pig producers; the progress achieved in animal performance while maintaining health and robustness. And, of course, the addition of Choice at the end of 2023, which strengthened Axiom’s presence both in France and internationally.”
Q
How do you explain Axiom’s success?
“First, I think of the women and men in the company. They are very passionate about their jobs. With every recruitment, we follow a strong strategy; core values include passion, dynamics, expertise and team spirit. And even though we are a big player, we also welcome clients who are looking for tailor-made solutions. We suggest specific programmes, specific breeding lines, adapted to the client’s needs.”
Q
What was the company Gene+ like when you joined in 2007?
“When I first started in 2007, Gene+ was mainly focused on cooperative shareholders and on its farmers. Yes, there were subsidiaries in Spain and China, and there was some business with some countries in Europe, but the main part of the business was in France. These days, Axiom is active in many countries in Europe, Asia and South America, as well as in Africa. We are present everywhere, except in North America.”
Q
Is it an ambition to gain presence in North America?
“I think we have enough work in other parts of the world. North America is a bit like Europe. In these markets, pig numbers are decreasing – and there are very big players in this market already. We, however, would have to start from zero. We would be using a lot of energy for relatively little result. In Asia and South America, for example, we can achieve more with fewer investments. Production of pigs and pork consumption in Asia and South America both have been increasing a lot. So we have to be present on those markets. It could be that we will be present in North America in a few years. We are very open to partnerships and acquisitions. But I don’t know what will happen in few years.”
Q
What is Axiom doing with artificial intelligence (AI)?
“In genomics, AI is forming a new milestone. AI can help us to manage the huge quantity of data we are gathering. The best breeding company will be the company able to manage huge quantities of data with very good quality genetic progress. In fact, we’ve been using AI for more than 10 years in the selection for intramuscular fat. In that process, we have gathered a large amount of ultrasound image data. Using AI, we built a program to calculate the reality of the intramuscular fat. A newer feature is that we have installed a large number of cameras in the farrowing sections, for example. With AI, we thus analyse a lot of videos. The objective is to select the best sows with the best potential.”
Q
Is gene editing a road that Axiom wishes to go?
“In Europe, at this moment, gene editing is forbidden, so we cannot test that now. We don’t know what happens in the future.
“In our programme, we mainly focus on very good pig robustness and resilience. Not just on one disease, or one environment, or something like that, but on a global robustness and resilience. We manage robustness by collecting data from nuclei all over the world: from France, China, Vietnam, Africa and South America. We have data from pigs in different climates, fed on different cereals.”
Q
Do you expect the pig breeding industry, especially this market, to consolidate further?
“I think the consolidation of the market will continue in the next few years. Behind the top five, there is a large number of small breeding programmes in different countries. Costs for R&D and data processing will continue to increase. Not every breeding organisation will be able to develop data programs themselves.”
Q
How does Axiom manage to catch up with R&D investments?
“We are very focused on technical efficiency criteria to give the best value regarding our progress in the field. We are focused on homogeneity, potential and profitability.”
Q
What kind of developments will you be focusing on?
“Ease of management. What we see in each country, is that farmers have difficulty in finding employees. They can have a large number of employees, but not enough qualified staff. Producers will appreciate herd management getting easier. We also look at prolificity and feed conversion ratio – normal criteria we have to take care of. Fertility will continue to increase, too. And finally, the efficiency of slaughter pigs, as global competition for cereals is getting increasingly important.”
Q
Where would Axiom like to grow in the future?
“We are open to discussion. We are open to acquisitions, but we are also open to partnerships. A partnership could be about a project or a technology. If we can introduce better solutions for the pig industry working with another partner, it’s our job to do so.”
Q
Where is Axiom planning to be in the next 10 years?
“First of all, we have to be strong with genetic products, that is clear. We also do a lot of research on reproduction. For example, supplying gilts over longer distances could become more difficult for welfare reasons, because of societal attention. We are exploring alternative ways of disseminating genetic progress, beyond the traditional shipment of breeding animals. This is a subject we are actively working on, with the aim of finding new and more efficient ways of sharing genetic progress while potentially reducing the need for animal transport. And I really think we are just at the beginning of what artificial intelligence could do.”
Q
Are you positive about Axiom’s future, and why?
“Yes, I am very positive about Axiom’s future. The summit allowed us to see, very concretely, the strength of our international network and the interest in our vision for swine genetics. The discussions also confirmed that the challenges we are working on – robustness, resilience, efficiency, animal welfare and sustainability – are at the heart of the industry’s concerns across markets worldwide.”
PROFILE
Guillaume Naveau, age 42, has been in the pig breeding business for almost 20 years. After completing his engineering degree at ESA agricultural college in Angers, France, he spent over nine years with Gene+, before the company became part of the newly formed company Axiom. Having performed various roles, Naveau became CEO of Axiom in 2020.