The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
New Aberdeen-Angus chief reveals priorities
Verification scheme needed ‘to protect brand’
The new chief executive of the Aberdeen-Angus Society admits that joining the famous breed brand was never going to be an easy task.
Barrie Turner joined the society in February and six months in he says the “ship is steadying and the waters are calming”.
His comments come on the back of troubles at the society prior to his appointment, which included the resignation of several board members and the departure of former chief executive Johnny Mackey.
More recently the society has made headlines over a police investigation into financial matters – something Mr Turner hopes will be concluded in the very near future.
The new Aberdeen-Angus chief, whose background lies in the pig and food manufacturing and retail industries, says he is excited about leading the society.
“Part of the reason I took the job is that it’s more than a breed. It’s also a brand – a worldwide global phenomenon,” said Mr Turner.
“It’s all about cattle and it’s all about Aberdeen-Angus and the fantastic produce it’s delivering to the marketplace, which at the moment is very much in demand.”
He said the society’s main focus for the months ahead was developing and fine-tuning a sire verification scheme to ensure that any beef marketed as Aberdeen-Angus has actually come from Aberdeen-Angus cattle, both pure and cross.
“The industry already has systems in place to identify Aberdeen-Angus beef, but we need to make these more robust,” said Mr Turner.
He said the system would use DNA sampling to verify whether beef is Aberdeen-Angus or not.
Mr Turner said the verification process, which has involved a six-figure investment from the society, was needed to not only protect the brand, but also protect retailers and customers.
He said the society regularly received inquiries from Trading Standards officers who were investigating cases of beef being labelled as Aberdeen-Angus in restaurants, when it was not.
He said: “With the way the food industry is currently, the more reassurance that a processor can have that what they are putting into the pack is right, is good. It’s very important to them because the costs of false labelling are huge.”
From a farmers’ perspective, the verification process is also a way to protect the premium for AberdeenAngus cattle which is currently anywhere between 18p and 40p per kg, added Mr Turner.
“Every brand is open to abuse, so we have taken the initiative to help our customers and reassure the customers that demand Aberdeen-Angus as a brand that that’s what they are going to get,” he said.
Another breed society initiative is a project looking into the feed efficiency of Aberdeen-Angus cattle.
“Coming from a pig background and seeing the efficiencies that the pig and poultry industries work to, and coming into the beef industry, it surprises me how little we know about the efficiency of different breeds of an animal,” said Mr Turner.
“My goal would be to try and establish something that proves that AberdeenAngus are the most efficient and sustainable breed to keep.”
While many breeders have enjoyed success exporting cattle, in particular heifers to Europe, Mr Turner said he wanted to try to retain these cattle in the UK and change the customer base to a domestic one.
“The breed is in a stronger position now than it’s ever been and we need to capitalise on that,” he said.