Good communication and transparency between the different parts of the meat industry is vital for the sustainability of the sector, says Quality Meat Scotland (QMS), chief executive, Uel Morton.
Addressing the opening session of today’s annual QMS conference at Airth, Perthshire, Mr Morton (pictured above) said open-ness and two-way communication along the entire meat chain was essential if the industry is to rise to the challenges ahead and respond to the opportunities of a changing marketplace.
“It is well known that the most successful value chains are those where recognition is given to the value being added, and with the rewards being shared accordingly,” he said.
“I think we all realise that we’re operating in a time of unprecedented change for the livestock industry and are part of an era of change in which the value of QMS’s promotional role is particularly clear.”
While acknowledging that more than 70% of the QMS budget is targeted at consumer-facing activities in support of Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and Specially Selected Pork, Mr Morton pointed out that the 20% used to support the processing and retail sectors through key events, like today’s conference, remained a vital part of the organisation’s wide-ranging workload.
“Today’s conference, in fact, is the third major industry event which QMS has hosted in the past six months, building on a successful pig conference in November 2015 and a marketing conference in January this year,” he said.