Gibby Campbell - Chairman Rural Butchers

Conference focus - Welcome to another issue of Butchers Blurb. The focus of this issue is the Federated Farmers Rural Butchers Conference, held recently in Dunedin. The city turned on fantastic weather for our visit and both the formal conference and the informal social events around it were enjoyed by all attendees.

Growing the membership - On a more serious note, there are two issues that all members should be aware. Firstly, the executive is aware of the need to grow membership. Membership numbers have remained stable over the past few years, but membership growth remains a high priority. If you have thoughts on how to grow membership numbers - or if you know of reasons why homekill butchers are not joining the Rural Butchers industry group, we would like to hear from you.  Send your comments to Sommai Hudson, the Rural Butchers Secretary, dr.huds.homekill@xtra.co.nz or David Burt, the Rural Butchers Policy Advisor, dburt@fedfarm.org.nz, fax: 04 473 1081 or phone: 04 494 9182 or 0800 327 636.

New volunteers - Secondly, the current executive, while happy to serve for another year, will not all continue to serve beyond this. Several new volunteers will be needed on the executive from September 2009.  Please consider your availability for a role as the strength of the Rural Butchers industry group relies, in large part, on the continued willingness of members to step up to a leadership role. If you wish to know more about what is involved please contact me or any of the other members of the executive - our contact details are below.

Annual general meeting and conference 2008

The 2008 Rural Butchers AGM and conference was held at the Accor Mercure Hotel in Dunedin over the weekend of Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 September.

Chairman's report

Chairman, Gibby Campbell identified several highlights from his first year in office, including the rebranding exercise, having all the positions on the executive filled and restarting the publishing of this newsletter. Also mentioned was the fact that the slaughter code has still not been published and a trip to Wellington in July to discuss the current charging regime with the New Zealand Food Safety Authority. 

Election of executive

The previous executive members from 2007/08, Gibby Campbell, Mike Hanson, Daryl Johnson, Peter Russell and Sommai Hudson were all confirmed in their positions for 2008/2009.

Food safety verification

A letter from the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) concerning verification of Dual Operator Butcher Risk Management Programmes was presented to the conference. As well as advising of a change to the NZFSA hourly verification charge, it noted that some of the premises inspected weren't complying with all requirements. NZFSA audits scheduled for this year will focus on the identified non-complying areas and also on ensuring non-compliances from the previous audit have been corrected. Members can obtain a copy of the letter from policy advisor David Burt, dburt@fedfarm.org.nz.

Conference presentations

Product development - Manager of The Product Development Research Centre, Pat Silcock, from Otago University gave a thoughtful and comprehensive presentation about the product development process.  Mr Silcock emphasised the importance of planning through all aspects of the process and provided an example of a possible model to follow. Note that Food Standards Australia New Zealand Nutrition Panel Calculator referred to by Mr Silcock can be found at: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au.

Smallgoods trends - Key account sales manager, Wayne Cameron, for Kerry Ingredients Ltd, gave a very good presentation on ‘Trends in smallgoods'. He described a number of attributes that are of growing importance to consumers and hence producers including natural/healthy, provenance and the importance of values and ethics. He also discussed in some detail the sausage market in the United Kingdom and the importance of manufacturers in New Zealand being aware of overseas food trends and picking up and using this information to gain a business advantage.

Conference trips

Trip to Inox Sterling - A trip to Taieri to view Inox Sterling's Meat Equipment Centre took place on the conference's Saturday afternoon. Everyone took advantage of the opportunity to view, and discuss with Derek Senior and his staff, the range of equipment available before heading back to Dunedin 

Butchery Museum at Milton - Sunday morning found conference attendees on the road to Milton where Rex Spence has his Butchery Museum. All present enjoyed viewing the large and unique collection of items that make up the history of the butchery industry.

New ideas

Suggestions are needed for next conference which is likely to be in September 2009. Any thoughts about a venue and a theme, can be sent to the executive or policy advisor David Burt dburt@fedfarm.org.nz.

Slaughter Code not published - The Animal Welfare (Commercial Slaughter) Code of Welfare has been recommended to the Minister of Biosecurity, Jim Anderton and will be published in due course. If the code is published unchanged from the draft version that Federated Farmers Rural Butchers commented on, it will contain new rules that will affect how rural butchers work. Given this, any delay in the publication process is of advantage to rural butchers.

Member discounts - Remember to make sure that you show your Federated Farmers membership card when accessing member discounts.

Contracts and agreements - Federated Farmers offers a range of contracts and agreements discounted to members. These include: employment, lease, contractor, sales and purchase, agreements to grow, log books, access pads, and over dimension certificates. Order contacts and agreements online, or call 0800 327 646.

Books for sale - Books, non-fiction and fiction, written by members and available for sale. Ghosts in the valley by Richard Steele and Farming and subsidies - debunking the myths by Brian Chamberlin. Order books online.

Policy Advisor: David Burt, dburt@fedfarm.org.nz, 0800 327 646.

Chairman: Gibby Campbell, 03 615 9583, email: camp4@hotmail.com.
Secretary: Sommai Hudson, 09 422 5862, email: dr.huds.homekill@xtra.co.nz.

Executives:
Daryl Johnson,03 324 3528, email: johnsonclan@xtra.co.nz, Leeston.
Peter Russell, 06 756 8614, email: intasteakmp@xtra.co.nz, Inglewood.
Mike Hanson, 03 308 7354, email: netherbymeats@xtra.co.nz, Ashburton.

Butcher a quote - "Don't take a butcher's advice on how to cook meat. If he knew, he'd be a chef." Andy Rooney