The livestock and meat industry’s needs are attempting to be met by the Alberta government’s new strategy that is designed to help revitalize the industry.
The Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency recently took a step by naming the chair and initial board members of the ALMA.
Jeff Kucharski, CEO of ALMA, believes that the strategy will help improve the current situation and that the members that were put in place will play a key part in the success of the plan.
“It’s time to start doing things differently if we want different results,” said Kucharski. “The initiatives are designed to help create a business environment to foster successes in new and innovative ways.”
The strategy includes focusing on the increasing global market, diversifying and expanding markets, help the industry differentiate products, certify them and assist marketers to promote and sell products internationally as well as domestically.
“In short, we must do a better job of producing what our customers want,” said Kucharski. “For example, companies like McDonald’s buy their beef from Quebec because it is age verified. These are the kinds of market signals that both industry and government need to adapt and respond to.”
Kucharski believes that the strategy will start being effective in the near future but that some of the positive results may not be seen until later.
“This is a long term plan. Some of the changes will take time to see their full impact, but I think almost immediately we’ll see signals that what we’re doing is starting to work and change the reality of the industry,” he said. “There are already market signals that what we plan to do is what customers are asking for, so I think as awareness grows, reaction to our changes will become more evident.”
ALMA is continuing to work to promote Alberta as an innovative province nationally and around the world. This year, the government of Alberta is providing $56 million to support the plans of the agency.