Representatives from the Canadian Cattle Association (CCA), Canada Beef, and Public and Stakeholder Engagement attended several international events in October organized in partnership by the International Meat Secretariat (IMS). IMS is a non-profit organization that brings together livestock producer associations, national and regional meat associations, meat exporter associations, meat processing companies, government, and corporate partners from around the world representing over 75 per cent of the global production of cattle, pig, and sheep meat.
The marketing committee of IMS met at Bord Bia in Dublin on October 5 and 6. Committee members shared consumer campaigns and survey results from the last year, focusing on marketing in a recession and overcoming barriers to meat consumption. Across the world, farmers and ranchers continue to be trusted messengers on how food is raised. Innovative examples in various marketing channels were presented, along with key performance metrics.
As well, the World Meat Congress was held the second week of October in Maastricht, Netherlands, hosted by the Dutch Meat Producers Association and IMS.
The World Meat Congress is a major global event for all stakeholders within the meat value chain from all over the world where relevant challenges and opportunities related to meat production are discussed.
The theme of this year’s Congress was “Meeting Society and Consumer”. The diverse agenda focused on the various challenges that the meat sector is facing in all parts of the world as well as on the opportunities that can be seized when understanding what society and consumers expect of their high quality and nutritious food.
CCA’s own John Masswohl, who formerly chaired the Beef Committee, was elected to Vice President of IMS. Hear more from Dennis Laycraft, Executive Vice President of CCA, on the value of networking, collaborating and aligning with international partners: