ATLANTA — A quick walk through the International Poultry Expo reveals the life of a chicken from A to Z. From breeding to hatching to processing to deboning to marinating, it's all on display this week.
As the 63rd annual event kicked off Wednesday morning, a steady flow of people - one in a furry chicken costume - came down the escalators of the Georgia World Congress Center into one of the two massive exhibit halls.
There, companies showed off their newest innovations, connected with clients and tried to tap into new business.
Despite the fact there were thousands of people packed into the rooms, everyone seemed to know one another.
"You know who the customers are. You know who the companies are," said Nath Morris of Gainesville-based Heritage breeders.
He said the expo brings an opportunity to connect with customers and build existing relationships.
Marianne Morgan from Impex Gainesville Inc., a company specializing in watering systems, said this expo is one of the few chances the company has to meet with its international clients.
The event is called the International Poultry Expo for a reason and members of poultry industries from around the world travel to take part. A dozen different languages are spoken here and name tags feature locations such as Colombia, Italy and Jamaica.
Businessmen in pressed suits walked past 20-foot tall plush chickens. Some dropped their business cards in a bowl for a chance to win Mardi Gras beads decorated with rubber chickens. A pair of 3-D baby chick cakes, the tiny feathers piped in icing, sat at the entrance to one exhibit.
The event has a whimsical feel, but serious business takes place here.
Some deals will be made during the expo, especially with representatives of international companies who are heading home after the show shuts down. Other partnerships will be finalized once back in the office.
Dane Woods, owner of Cantrell Machine Co. in Gainesville, said the event brings a rare opportunity to connect with the decision makers at some top companies.
On Wednesday morning, he was optimistic about the next few days.
"We want to think that this opens some doors," he said.
At the Cantrell exhibit, Tom White from Cantrell's Canadian partner Espera/Cooper showed off a machine that places a plastic bag into a cardboard box. It's a simple step in the poultry process, but White explained the machine pushes the bag into the corners of the box and also creates an extra fold around the opening, creating a shield against contamination.
At another exhibit, The Poultry Times, a sister publication of The Times, handed out copies of its monthly publication.
At one of the larger exhibits, Gainesville-based Marel Stork Poultry Processing set up half a dozen production machines. Justin Astle, an employee from Kansas City, Mo., showed off a machine that scans chicken pieces to detect bones or other contaminates. The rejected piece is sent back on a belt where an image on a small screen shows the bone outlined in red.
At a smaller exhibit, employees of Jefferson-based World Technology Ingredients stood around a deli meat case and talked with visitors about their company's food safety and marination technologies.
"You get the customers out in a more casual environment," said Chris Gabrels, the regional sales executive. "They're more interested in what you've got. They're not busy with their day-to-day tasks."
Morris said many of the familiar faces around the room are from the Gainesville area.
"When you're in Gainesville you think of the plants, the chicken plants," he said. "But there's so much more of the allied industries ... that people don't think about and that's from Gainesville."