It was Friday morning, the last day of the International Poultry Expo. I was not fully prepared for the scale of Atlanta`s World Congress Center, nor the scope of the elaborate and extensive exhibits.

Representatives from nearly 100 countries that produce approximately $41 Billion (US) in poultry products, were among the estimated 20,000 Expo attendees this year.

The BioAgra display consisted of an atractive backdrop with a couple of large poultry photos, a sign with the Company logo, a table with literature, and some decorative potted plants. Off to one side there was a large round conference table with eight chairs.

As my friend, Kent Kloock, and I approached BioAgra`s exhibit, we saw that there was a delegation from a large Middle Eastern nation seated around the conference table talking to Neal Bartoletta and BioAgra`s VP of Research and Development. Standing at the literature table, Paul Metzinger was talking to another Expo visitior. Kent and I decided to look around the exhibit hall.

The exhibit areas of the Georgia World Congress Center cover over 16 acres of exhibit space in two huge buildings. There were nearly 1,000 exhibits, some covering 40`x60` spaces, complete with fully assembled and operational pieces of stainless steel poultry processing equipment for every conceivable task. There were machines that sorted newly hatched chicks from broken egg shells, machines that inspected processed meat for tiny pieces of bone, machines with soft rubber ``fingers`` that gently scooped up live chickens, and conveyors over 100 feet in length. There were egg washers, sorters, counters, packers, and flash freezers. There were feed vendors, packaging vendors, tractor vendors, and building contractors with full scale displays.

After half an hour, I returned to BioAgra`s booth, but the conference was still in session. I wandered off again, and watched a machine the size of a Ford Explorer, efficiently cutting up whole chickens into what every shopper knows as breasts, legs and thighs. A smart machine sorted the parts and sent them off to be packaged. I moved on and watched another machine flatten and die-cut boneless breasts into uniform size before they were seasoned and flash frozen. The scraps were diced into 4 centimeter cubes for chicken soup, by yet another stainless steel robotic wonder.

I had flown into Atlanta`s airport on Wednesday afternoon, and was picked up by Kent just as the the first day of the Expo was winding down. Kent met me at the curb and we drove downtown for a scheduled meeting with Neal Bartoletta and Paul Metzinger.

As Kent and I made our way through a crowded second floor hotel lobby, Paul Metzinger rose from his seat across the room and called out an enthusiastic greeting. This was the first time I met Paul Metzinger, and I soon realized that his enthusiasm and positive outlook were constant, and set the tone for the entire visit.

After introductions, Kent sat down next to Neal and, by design, I found a seat next to the highly regarded scientist who is in charge of BioAgra`s research and development. He had lots of questions for me about how Beta glucan had helped alleviate my daughter`s symptoms, and about her current state of health. I had even more questions for him, since what I knew about Beta glucan had been learned from the internet and by personal experience. There were some gaping holes in my understanding that I was hoping to fill.

We spent almost two hours there together before going our separate ways for the evening.

The following morning, while Neal and his delegation manned the BioAgra Exhibit at the Expo, Kent and I traveled with Paul Metzinger and a small group of others to visit the facility in Hinesville.

We were shown around by the plant manager, a young man named Paul Phillips who told us he has a masters degree in biology and had been a sub-contractor for the US government before going to work at BioAgra. Paul showed us the centrifuge and the boiler, and explained the sequence of processes that would soon result in the production of Beta glucan. He also explained that, though delaying completion, several upgrades had been made from the original plan that would allow for much more efficient operation. He explained that BioAgra`s plant is, by far, the largest and most technologically advanced production facility of its kind in the world, but that the entire manufactiuring facility could be operated by just a supervisor, a technician and a materials handler on each shift.

When someone in the group asked the obvious question, the young plant manager smiled indulgently and answered, ``Soon.``

After a complete tour of the operation in Hinesville, we headed back to Atlanta, pleased with the progress of what appeared to be a nearly completed ``state-of-the-art`` production facility. I was anxiously looking forward to Friday`s visit to the Expo..

I stood watching a machine as it sorted and packaged eggs. I marveled as the robotic fingers lifted and placed 2 dozen eggs in cartons in 2 seconds, with no breakage.

Tiny, newly hatched chicks bobbled and chirped and they moved gently along another machine`s conveyor. The machine counted and delicately packed 100 downy chicks into a box for shipping. There were no mishaps.

Everywhere I looked, there were operational and interactive poultry related displays. I still had only seen about half of what was exhibited in one of the two buildings, but still wanted to spend some more time with the people from BioAgra.

I headed back to the BioAgra display. It seemed that the Expo was finally winding down, and visitors to the Exhibits were becoming sparse. Kent and I sat down at the conference table with Neal Bartoletta and asked for his perspective on the Expo and the general response to BioAgra`s exhibit.

Neal indicated that, as expected, there was a lot of interest in BioAgra`s Beta glucan product, Agrastim. ``But``, he said, ``the international interest was even greater than we anticipated.``

Neal reached ino the pocket of his jacket and pulled out an inch thick wad of business cards and tossed them on the table. ``These are all people who want to be notified when we are in full production``, he said.

As I began to quiz Neal about public announcements and production dates, he began to explain his very clear operational strategy.

Neal said he understood the desire of (VYTA Corp) shareholders to see movement in the shareprice. He realizes how important share price is to investors. However, he wanted me to understand that share price is not what motivates him. ``You have to understand``, he said, `` my interest is in making BioAgra a success.``

``Naturally``, he explained, ``(VYTA Corp) investors will benefit, too, when BioAgra is successful.``

Neal went on to explain how much BioAgra`s customers have at stake, and how important it is for BioAgra to be percieved as reliable and consistent. ``BioAgra`s customers will buy the product when they have confidence in our ability to deliver.``

Neal explained that he doesn`t want to announce that we will be in full production in three or four weeks and then find out it will take five weeks, or six. He expressed the importance of testing everything, and having everything fully operational before making any promises. He said, ``When we are fully operational, I will announce it on our website, and in the poultry journals. Everyone will know.``

I asked one final question about sales, to which Neal responded, ``I am confident that we can sell every bit of Beta glucan we can produce.``

-zties