Pork producers urged to consider domestic market

Monday, September 21, 2009

by KATE PROCTER

Local was the focus at a meeting last week organized by the political action committee of the Perth County Pork Producers. Speakers told the group to use Ontario’s large population base to bring profit back to the red meat sector.

Organizers suggested a united front of red meat and horticulture might generate more support from government, but the crowd of about 250 producers at the Sept. 17 meeting arrived at no clear consensus about pursing a partnership.

Ken Strawbridge, president and CEO of Alpha Strategic Consulting Inc. based in Waterloo, is working with several beef producers to develop a sustainable business model for their industry. Why and what change is needed? “If you can answer those two questions, the rest is just work,” said Strawbridge.

Production, consumers and finance are the three main components of business and they work against each other, he explained. Successful businesses learn how to manage those relationships.

Strawbridge said all producers must pay more attention to the entire supply chain. When cheap corn drives expansion in the livestock industry, nobody is better off. “You’ve got to step up and say ‘this is wrong; this isn’t working for any of us.’”

He observed through his study of the beef industry that local markets are more manageable for farmers. But producers face challenges: currently there are no means to co-ordinate stakeholders of the supply chain and there is no mechanism to manage change. Producers also have no way to manage investment or cash flow.

On the consumer side, the local market is more manageable than the global market, he said, adding the consumer cannot always distinguish which characteristics are important “The notion that I’m going to build it and they will come is a fallacy,” said Strawbridge. Producers need to instill understanding in consumers that high-quality food produced in Ontario is something they want to pay for.

Elbert van Donkersgoed, another speaker at the meeting, agreed that Ontarians want to eat locally grown food. Retailers are the main bottleneck between a diverse group of producers and a diverse group of consumers. “If we are going to get a better price, we need to build a bridge to the consumers,” he said.

Strawbridge’s solution? “A paradigm shift. Completely changing our way of thinking.” It is all about the consumer. Build a system to manage consumers, producers and finance in order to achieve sustainability. BF