The Milk Producer - February 2011 - (Page 4)

EDITOR’SNOTES By Bill Dimmick A matter of trust Skeptical consumers won’t just take your word for it when it comes to food safety N closely at a package of frozen fish the other week. On sale at an attractive price, the package was about the right size, too. Before I considered slipping it into my shopping cart, I examined the label. Three words prompted me to put it back into the grocer’s freezer: Product of China. A month or so earlier, I was browsing in another supermarket’s frozen food section. Having little time to prepare supper that evening, I wanted mixed vegetables I could quickly turn into a stir-fry. Two competing brands offered what I wanted, but one package was $1 cheaper. The cheaper brand? Product of China. I paid the extra $1. One of the speakers at the recent Dairy Farmers of Ontario annual meeting (our coverage starts on page 26), Darrell Bricker, chief executive officer of Ipsos Public Affairs, provided many insights into the current Canadian market. Among them was his observation that consumers want to know you deliver what you promise, and they want to be able to track what they buy to the source. He also noted consumers no longer will take your word for it. You must prove what you say. Consumers want to know they can trust you. During the past several years, the world’s news media have published a litany of complaints about Chinese food products. The most scandalous, in my view, was the 2008 melamine-tainted baby formula scandal. By November of that year, Chinese government officials estimated this THE I PRO U R TH E MI LK PRODUCER is published monthly RODU e m nthl hly by Dairy Farmers of Ontar o, 6780 Campobello Dai Farmers of Onta airy r tari b Road Mississauga, Ontario, Road, Mississauga, Ontar L5N 2L8 ad, ssis a t EDITOR: ill D m ick EDITOR: Bill Dimmick ITOR ASSISTAN EDIT R ASSISTANT EDITOR: Sharon Laidlaw SISTANT ITOR ai law Co-ordinated by Communications Co-ordinated by Co -ordinat s and Planning Div and Planning Di ision, n Bill itch Bill Mitch Assi tant Director. chell, ssis Chan Chan of address notices should be sent to: ange u be sent to: THE MILK PRODUCER 6780 Campobello Road, Mississauga, Ontario L5N 2L8. s 8 Subsc pt Subscription rate : $26.88 for one year, $49.28 bscr ates ye $49.28 ear, 9 for two years and $67.20 for three years in o w year n r e yea in ears Canada (includes HST), $36 per year in the nada (includes l s U.S. $36 per year overseas. Single copy: $2.50. U.S., $36 per year overs S., r vers Make cheques payab Make cheques payable to Dairy Farmers of heque able iry ir Ontario. Ontario. tari concoction had poisoned 300,000 Chinese babies. At least six died, and hundreds were hospitalized. Melamine, an industrial chemical, was added to milk to raise the protein test and pad profits. Participants in this outrage received severe punishment—the government executed a farmer and a salesman, and jailed the rest. Yet confidence in China’s dairy industry plummeted. The government there is trying to clean up the dairy industry, but reports out of China hardly inspire trust. As recently as January 2011, official Chinese news media reported authorities had detained 100 people suspected of peddling melamine-tainted milk products. As a result, I have difficulty trusting the integrity of other Chinese food products. In Canada, we have had our share of food scares, too. Remember the listeria contamination of prepared meats a few years ago? Maple Leaf, the company responsible, has had to work hard to win back consumer trust. You can’t demand trust. You must earn it. Given my position in our industry, I already know I can trust the quality and safety of Canadian milk and dairy products. However, few consumers have this knowledge. Along with several other benefits, the Canadian Quality Milk program will let you ensure trust in our products by Canadian consumers generally. They need to trust you as I already do. Canada Post Publications Mail Sales Product d tions Mai Sale P oduc a e uct Agreement No. 40063866. Return postage 0063 66. Retu postage 3866 turn o 38 guaranteed. Circulation: 10,000. io 0,000 o 000. ISSN 0030-3038. SS Prin Print d in Canada. inte n nada. a National Nation Marketing Manager tion eting Manager ana James Fitz James Fitzgerald tzg 154 Jean 154 Jean Street, n RR 5, Strat ord, Ontario N5A 6S6 5, Stra ratf Toll-fre Toll-free advertisers only: 1-888-460-6212 ll-free Phone (519) 393-5292 Fax (519) 393-5293 5292 52 51 29 E-m E-mail: milkjim47@quadro.net @quadro n ro.n Opinions expressed herein are those of the ed herein are thos f the erei hose author and/or editor and do not necessarily ditor and not necessarily e aril reﬂect the opinion or policies of Dairy Farmers n or policies of Dair Farmers lici iry of of Ontario. Publication of advertisements does P lication dvert sements does erti ment not constitute endor stitu ndor tute orsement or approval by The or t The Milk Producer or Dairy Farmers of Ontario of f products or services advertised. The Milk Producer welcomes let i oduce cer comes et etters to the e editor about magazine content. bout g bo maga ine content. t t. Phone: (905) 821-8970 ( 0 821-8970 1-89 Fax: (905) 821-3160 (905) 821-3160 1-31 E-mail: bdimmick@milk.org bdimmick milk. immick@m k.o slaidlaw@mil or slaidlaw@milk.org w ilk org Website: Go to publications o at www.milk.org 4 | February 2011 | MilkPRODUCER http://www.fsc.org http://www.milk.org http://www.fsc.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Milk Producer - February 2011

The Milk Producer - February 2011
Contents
Editor's Notes
DFO Chair's Message
Dairy Update
Industry Roundup
DFC Promotion
Issues Update
Research
Applied Science
Ruminations
Rearing Replacements
Calf Health
Markets
Markets
New 'N' Noted
Back Forty

The Milk Producer - February 2011