Maple Leaf Foods President Calls for Greater Transparency in Communicating with Consumers

By Bruce Cochrane.

The president and CEO of Maple Leaf suggests all segments of the industry have a role to play in providing consumers accurate transparent information on what's being done to ensure the sustainability of food production.

Michael McCain, the president and CEO of Maple Leaf Foods, told those on hand yesterday for the 2016 Banff Pork Seminar, society's interest in responsible consumption has changed markedly in the past 5 years and consumers are interested in spending their food dollars on products that not just provide sustenance and nutrition but are also provided in responsible ways for the care of our environment and our society.

Michael McCain-Maple Leaf Foods:
Consumers today particularly the millennial generation derive most of their information from social media and digital media content.
That's not a bad thing but it is subject to some variation in the accuracy of the information.

That's not just a factor of our industry.
That's all industry and all circumstances.
Our challenge is always to do a great job in doing our best to correct the record, making sure that even in the presence of misinformation that we do our level best to provide accurate information and make good judgments based on that.

I think all segments of the industry, in all levels in the industry from our retail food service customer base through to processors, producers, suppliers and indeed the government need to collaborate on providing a coordinated response to, in one hand a challenge but even more importantly is a great opportunity because Canada has demonstrated leadership in these areas.

To date we are recognized as North American leaders and we can take what might appear to be a challenge and convert it into a tremendous opportunity for growth being leaders in sustainable meat production in Canada.

McCain says dealing with social and digital media today is just part of our new reality in every part of our life.

Source:Farmscape