The Cooperative
Advantage
The dual-cooperative structure of Topigs Norsvin ensures that we operate with farmer accountability while maintaining the professional management and global scale needed to compete worldwide with:
- A long-term perspective over short-term profit
- Genetic dividends returned to farmer-owners through better genetics
- No external shareholders demanding quarterly returns
- Decision-making guided by those who depend on the genetics for their livelihoods
Long-Term Perspective
We invest in genetic improvement without pressure to sacrifice the future for immediate gains.
Built for Generations.
Decisions are made with a multi-decade horizon in mind — because the farmers who own the cooperative will still be farming long after any annual report has been forgotten.
Genetic Dividend
Better animals, higher productivity, and lower costs per pig are the returns that matter most.
Progress Flows Back
Genetic improvements are not extracted as profit for distant investors — they are reinvested into breeding progress that owner-farmers receive directly in their herds.
Farmer Owned
Capital stays in the cooperative and is allocated based on what farmers actually need.
Free to Make Choices
Cooperatives can make bold choices — including ones that cost money now to create value years down the road. The only expected return is genetic progress.
Decision-Making
When people setting direction are the same people living with the outcomes, priorities naturally align.
Guided by Farmers
Strategy is shaped by the people who depend on the genetics daily — not by people far removed from the barn. Accountability and purpose are built in.
Selection back then
Topigs Cooperative
On February 24, 1922, Dutch pig farmers established the Centraal Bureau voor de Varkensfokkerij (CBV) ‘Central Bureau for Pig Breeding’ with the aim of improving pig breeding. This initiative formed the start of what is now Topigs Norsvin.
Topigs emerged from a rich tradition of farmer-owned herdbooks across the Netherlands. Through decades of consolidation in the 1980s and 1990s, multiple breeding organizations—including Stamboek, Dalland, Fomeva, Cofok, and Prova—came together under farmer ownership to form Topigs.
Today, the Topigs Cooperative remains:
- A farmer-owned cooperative based in the Netherlands
- A major shareholder in Topigs Norsvin
- Governed by its own membership and Supervisory Board representing Dutch pig farmers
- Committed to returning genetic dividends—better animals, better performance—to member farmers
Norsvin Cooperative
Norwegian pig farmers founded Norsvin in 1958 as a cooperative to advance pig breeding and support the economic viability of Norwegian pork production.
Norsvin is a cooperative owned by Norwegian pig producers, focused on research, development, production and sales of swine genetics. The cooperative represents approximately 1,300 Norwegian pig farmer-owners today.
Norsvin serves the following roles:
- Helping to secure the results of Norwegian pig producers by offering high-quality genetic material.
- Conducting research, running breeding programs, and serving the Norwegian domestic market
- Working together with Norwegian farmer associations, research institutes and political circles to improve the pig industry.
- Voicing the pig farmer's voice via many local chapters, which strive to make the pig industry visible as an important player in Norwegian business life.