The American Bresse Breed Club is slated to become the international representative organization of American Bresse Chicken breeders in North America (USA and Canada).
As of February 2022, club development is still in the planning stages; and now, a website has been established:
Ambresse.com is following the progress and related news on this page.
The American Bresse Breed Club
It is difficult to truly advance the interests of the American Bresse breed in North America without a collective body of American Bresse breeders who will work together toward common standards and goals. Ms. Mandelyn Royal, who has been raising and breeding American Bresse Chickens since 2015, is working with others toward putting all the pieces together and establishing an American Bresse Breed Club.
Members of the breed club will pave the way to:
Uniformity of an ideal American Bresse type through a standard of perfection
A consistent, reliable, and marketable product
Marketing strategies, systems, and tools
While not purely necessary, acceptance of the American Bresse breed into the American Poultry Association is a long-term goal. Recognition would help legitimize the breed, provide publicity within the poultry-breeding world, and help further the marketing goals of the American Bresse Breed Club.
Establish the structure for a breed club. Delineate and fill available club positions, such as secretary, treasurer, president, a cabinet of regional directors, VP of shows, VP of marketing/education and other roles as appropriate. Most of these roles are expected to be selected through member voting or by appointment.
Set in order the financial aspects of running a public club, such as club dues and a financial account.
Create a uniform finishing standard, possibly tiered to various accepted criteria. Components of a finishing standard might include butcher weight, percent marbling, intensity of flavor, etc.
Identify marketing and production strategies geared to multiple levels of market bird finishing.
Collaborate to produce an American Bresse "brand."
Develop a North American market for American Bresse meat and eggs. This is important as there is not nearly as much of an obvious market for haute cuisine poultry in the United States as there is in France. High end restaurants and high end customers are currently the only market for the superior quality of the ABC meat.
Foster an inclusivity and "fellowship" vibe among ABC breeders, in order to avoid any kind of exclusivity.
A fully functioning American Bresse Breed Club will be very helpful to American Bresse breeders! Here is at least part of the future vision for a breed club:
An American Bresse Marketing Co-op! Anyone hoping to buy or sell eggs, birds, or products will benefit from the support of a co-op.
Sponsoring and holding American Bresse shows. This is where you can obtain a certified judge's opinion on the quality of your poultry, and assess the qualities of your birds as compared to the qualities of other show entries. Your selective breeding skills will improve quickly, and you can connect with the breeders of birds that might add missing qualities to your flock.
The exact focus of the shows is still to be determined, for example, whether shows would look or feel different than APA shows, or whether function or form should get more, or less, or equal focus.
As American Bresse are a meat breed, it would be great to judge the meat by way of a cooking competition! Imagine all the varied American Bresse entrees that could be sampled!
Educational materials, including a newsletter, membership packets, etc.
A Legal/Research department will help identify legal issues and reach out to state or federal representatives in an effort to eliminate legal roadblocks to both raising and selling Am Bresse products.
A quality certification system for authenticating American Bresse products. It would be vaguely similar to, but probably vastly different than, the AOC system utilized in Bresse, France. This will come into play only after there is a consistent product that can be marketed by name, which is probably years down the road.
What is YOUR Vision for the Future of the American Bresse chicken in North America?
If so, NOW is the time to speak up about YOUR vision for the American Bresse breed! We actively welcome your input. If you have any ideas or thoughts regarding one or more of the following topics, or should you have any other pertinent observations or ideas, please feel free to communicate via the form below. Fill out the fields, and hit "Submit!" Easy peasy.
Questions for Prospective Members of the American Bresse Breed Club
What is your vision for the future of the American Bresse breed in the United States? Please share any and all details that are important to you, and be as specific as you wish.
What are your thoughts on mature bird live weight? The European Gauloise standard calls for hens at 4.5 - 5.5 lbs and cocks at 5.5 - 6.5 lbs for 1+ year old birds. The question on the table is: For the sake of utility, do American Bresse breeders wish to maintain the European Gauloise standard weights, or bump up the desired weights to (for example) 5.5 - 6.5 lb hens and 7.5 - 8.5 lb males? Do you have an opinion?
Do you have thoughts on a logo? What should it look like? What should the logo "say" or express?
Can you recommend anyone who can create it for the club? Are YOU able to create a logo for the club? There is still a bit of time left before graphics need to be finalized.
We look forward to your thoughts! Alternatively, you can also register your response(s) through our contact us form or via email (info@ambresse.com).
Expect Regular Updates to this Page...
As progress is made and the American Bresse Breed Club is realized, we will keep this page up to date. Check back as needed.
Thank you! Here's looking forward to a rewarding and blessed future for the American Bresse Breed Club!
This website focuses on the American Bresse Chicken, along with other chicken-related topics. Due to the protections given by France to the Bresse breed, it is important to consistently differentiate when necessary between the Bresse chicken breed of France and North American chickens of direct French Bresse descent. For this reason, we call them American Bresse chickens, repetitively, throughout the website. You might notice that this can start to feel clunky at times. So, in order to write more fluidly, we also use a couple contracted terms to reference American Bresse chickens: “Am Bresse,” or ABC (American Bresse Chickens). Our keystrokes spell out ABC or Am Bresse, but our heads see American Bresse. We hope you will see the same.