Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Defection disappoints

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A decision by Alliance not to adopt a nationwide meat industry farm quality assurance programme puts the industry’s integrity at risk, Anzco agriculture general manager Grant Bunting says. 
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Alliance will use its own programme in preference to the red meat industry’s collaborative Farm Assurance Programme (FAP).

The FAP, established to enhance customer confidence in the NZ supply chain, is funded by the Red Meat Profit Partnership (RMPP) under a Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) programme.

Introduced last year, FAP was welcomed by farmers who saw the industry-standard as a way to reduce duplication and costs.

Alliance, while providing support and input for the development of the national programme, had never said it was fully committed to FAP, chief executive David Surveyor said.

“Our customers tell us they value Alliance’s farm assurance programme and the commitment to ensuring our suppliers consistently meet high food safety and animal welfare standards in their farming practices.”

The Alliance programme was accredited, certified by a third-party assessment body to maintain integrity and served as a vital part of farm management practices for most of the company’s suppliers.

“Alliance Group did provide support and input to the development of the FAP and believe it meets the minimum base requirements that we have developed in the Alliance programme over the past 20 years,” Surveyor said.

But Alliance was focused on the enhancements to its own assurance programme to meet the requirements of its farmers and global customers to create unique value for farmers.

As a founding partner of the RMPP, Alliance will continue to support the PGP and work with farmers who supply livestock on the basis of FAP, Surveyor said.

Bunting said Anzco is surprised and disappointed a key player in the meat industry is not supporting a national programme that enhances the industry’s integrity.

Given the standard was developed through the industry-good programme, it was disappointing to see the Alliance not taking part.

“The FAP was introduced to streamline the process for industry and farmers and to ensure everyone is working to the same standards.

“Farmer feedback is that we should have done this years ago.

“Farmers say they are seeing real benefits from the programme,” Bunting said.

The 13 other meat processors implementing the FAP had put aside competitive interests and introduced or were about to introduce it.

The new programme, independently audited by AsureQuality, enhanced the already high customer confidence in the NZ supply chain.

Bunting said claims by Alliance to shareholder-producers its existing assurance system is easier did nothing to enhance the country’s desire for a world-class standard.

“The new FAP standard enhances our ability to prove that red meat produced in this country meets the highest standards of traceability, biosecurity and animal health and welfare.

“It is well known that all NZ processors share customers around the world to some degree.

“Those shared customers have fully supported the development of a single farm assurance standard.”

Bunting said Alliance’s decision not to take part left the industry questioning its ability to collaborate on major issues facing the sector.

“If we can’t implement what is in essence a very simple, yet highly beneficial, non-competitive initiative then surely we have to question.

“Alliance may be seeing this as a point of difference. We see it as a pointless difference,” Bunting said.

Silver Fern Farms (SFF) introduced the FAP last July and already has more than 300 farmers accredited.

SFF had adopted the industry programme with the aim of removing duplication of standards and of lowering the costs to farmers and processors of having multiple company-specific programmes.

“It has been a collaborative initiative to benefit our industry,” a company spokesman said.

SFF farmers reported they found it to be a robust process that supported their good onfarm practice.

“Having a common standard throughout NZ also enables customers to be confident that the product they purchase originates from a trusted source.

“We see it as a pre-requisite for our value-added supply programmes which attract a supply premium,” he said.

When the programme was rolled out B+LNZ market development general manager Nick Beeby said FAP is pivotal to developing the NZ red meat story and positioning sheep meat and beef as premium products desired by affluent consumers.

Beeby declined to comment on Alliance’s decision.

RMPP general manager David Wright said companies actively working with FAP are getting farmer uptake.

He understood Alliance hadn’t pulled out — it just hadn’t joined.

“Alliance is a supportive partner of RMPP but, yes, they do have their own farm assurance programme,” Wright said.

The ultimate goal was that all sheep, beef and deer farmers would be involved in FAP.

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