The 53-year-old Argentine Ignacio Pernicone’s path to high-tech poultry began on his grandfather’s layer farm in Argentina’s fertile heartland.
“By 14 I was candling eggs and shoveling feed,” he recalls.
When the chores were done, teenage Ignacio devoured European trade magazines, and started to discover his passion for this industry, dreaming of the technology that had yet to reach Latin America.
He later earned a B.Sc. in Agricultural Economics at the University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires, commuting 200 km from the farm each week.
Tragedy then struck: his father died in a car accident, leaving the family business in turmoil. Pernicone negotiated the sale of land to settle bank debts and, as part of the deal, secured sponsorship for an MBA in Agri-Business at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign. There he studied supply-chain optimization and energy modelling — skills now central to his turnkey vision.
Multinational apprenticeship
A two-decade period with a German supplier made Ignacio Pernicone the face of European automation throughout Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru, supervising projects that ultimately housed more than 25 million birds.
“Every visit confirmed the same gap. Farmers wanted European concept for efficiency, but they wanted one trusted contact, not a patchwork of vendors,” he explains.
From mid-2024 and over the months he set up his own company, launching EggPertise in early 2025, hiring a team of six people including key long-time colleagues, and closing agreements with well-known European companies such as DACS, Landmeco, Sime-Tek, Bayle, D’Allesandro and Tecno.
The mission: integrate best-in-class technologies into a unique package. In words of both Landmecos and DACS’s philosophy: “It’s not about the price; it is about the long-term performance and energy savings. It’s not about the price; it is about the value”.
The Danish advantage
He found cornerstone partners in Jutland, Denmark. One of them is Landmeco, that supplies chain-feeders, drinking lines, breeder nests and modular aviaries renowned for durability and animal-welfare design.
“One standout product is the Broiler Pan feeder, which features a unique, patented design that integrates all the key functionalities the market demands – combined in a single pan” says Ignacio Pernicone and continues:
“Landmecos engineering is beautifully simple. Simplicity matters when spare parts have to cross an ocean and barns must run 365 days a year,” Pernicone says.
“When you phone Denmark you speak to the engineers who designed the system. That culture of responsibility is the best guarantee I can give my customers.”
“Landmeco is excellent companies to do this with. They go beyond what I expected — not just on the technological side, but also in how they treat people. We’re not only looking for good products, we’re also looking for good people. Who’s behind the company matters deeply.”
“Confidence, trust, the way they think and support — that’s what makes a partnership work. We have the same objectives in mind, and that’s why I consider this collaboration will be a success”.
First impressions and early partnerships
Pernicones partnership with Landmeco developed in parallel with another Danish company, DACS in Nr. Snede.
“I’ve known Landmeco for many years, and it felt natural to move forward together. Their systems are proven, and they offer exactly what the market here has been missing,” he says.
Turn-key from concrete to carton
To round out the package, Pernicone is cooperating with other international companies. Together they let him bid on projects covering the entire value chain:
“Farmers no longer need to juggle five quotations. They get one integrated proposal, one shipping plan and one point of accountability,” he says.
Operating from a new base in Pilar, near Buenos Aires, Pernicone will first focus on Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru. Brazil — the world’s largest poultry exporter — sits “on the runway for phase two once we scale up Portuguese-language service.”
Demand surfaced even before the fair opened, Ignacio made negotiations with a Chilean integrator who promptly requested quotes for Landmeco aviaries and DACS climate systems.
Pernicone aims to close at least 10 full projects by year-end and grow to 10 team people with a main weight on technician, supported by trusted subcontractors for installation.
“We invest as much in spare-parts cabinets and training as in marketing. In the end one successful project sparks the next order,” he notes.
A market ripe for renewal
Latin America’s poultry sector is forecast to grow four percent annually through 2030, even as welfare rules tighten and energy costs rise.
Pernicone believes those twin pressures will accelerate adoption of the Scandinavian solutions now in his catalogue.
“Our region has the grain, the climate and the entrepreneurial spirit,” he says, surveying the bustling exhibition hall.
“What we’ve lacked is technology that saves energy, respects the birds and lasts for two decades. The Danes have already solved that — my job is simply to put it at our farmers’ doorsteps.”
With containers rolling, a trade-show sale already banked and more quotes on his desk, Ignacio “Nacho” Pernicone looks ready to deliver exactly that — Danish innovation, South American resilience and a truly complete project package to a market eager for both.
Text: Journalist Mikael Sand, JVR Consult. Tlf.: 30561992. Mail: ms@jvrconsult.dk.
