Beef 2015

Beef 2015 seminar: Do benefits of QA-backed beef brands justify the costs?

Beef Central, 27/04/2015

Beef 2015Livestock producers are repeatedly told that consumers want to know more about what they eat and where their food comes from.

This has led to the creation of new branded beef programs which use on-farm quality assurance systems and independent third-party audits to guarantee the integrity of their claims back to the consumer.

This integrity comes at a cost, particularly at farm level where producers often have to shoulder the expense of third-party audits and additional paperwork.

So is it worth it? Are the benefits sufficient to justify the additional costs delivering this integrity?

And how credible are the claims we make?

Australia now exports almost three quarters of the beef it produces to overseas markets, increasingly in boxes carrying labels that make specific claims about how that beef was produced.

To what extent are those claims based on systems that guarantee what they say? Can the owners of brands which are not supported by independently audited QA systems truly put their hand on their heart and swear to the accuracy of claims they are making? What are the risks if we get it wrong?

These questions will be the focus of a seminar and panel session to be held at Beef 2015 next Wednesday morning from 9:30am-12.30pm.

The seminar will hear from producers, processors and regulators who are actively involved in quality assurance programs, and who will discuss why they believe verification processes are necessary to underpin the claims brands make to consumers.

Speakers include UK cattle producer, EBLEX board member and Meat South West chair Ed Green; JBS Australia marketing executive Brad de Luca; 2013 Qld cattle producer of the year and PCAS pioneer Ian McCamley; leading lot feeder and MD of Smithfield Cattle Co – 2014 Woolworths livestock supplier of the year – Jason Shearer Smith; and AUS-MEAT chief executive officer Ian King. A panel session featuring these speakers will be moderated by Beef Central’s James Nason.

For more information about the forum click here or to book tickets ($30 per person) click here

* HAVE A QUESTION YOU WOULD LIKE TO ASK BUT CAN’T MAKE IT? Beef Central will be there, email your questions to james@beefcentral.com

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