Meat + Poultry - May 2005 - 3

May 2005

THE FRONT PAGE
COOL decision put on ice
WASHINGTON, D.C. - As part of a
farm spending bill drafted this past
month, lawmakers have voted to prevent spending that would facilitate passage of a law requiring mandatory country of origin labeling of meat products,
which was slated for implementation in
September 2006. The decision could delay COOL passage for months, which
garnered jeers from representatives of
small U.S. ranches and cheers from
meat industry interests.
The labeling law was originally part
of the 2002 Farm Bill and was scheduled to go into effect in 2004, but Congress voted to delay adoption of the
regulation while questions regarding
the logistics and expense of it were
considered. This latest action doesn't
apply to fresh and frozen fish, which
began carrying labels this past April.
Rep. Stephanie Herseth (D-S.D.) blasted the House subcommittee's decision
to delay the labeling requirements.
"Mandatory COOL is on the books
and should be implemented by now,"
Herseth said in a press release. "Unfortunately, House Republican leadership
is siding with corporate agriculture interests and against the interests of family ranchers in South Dakota and across

the country."
The language in the spending bill
would delay the start of any preparation
for COOL until October 2006, according to Russ Levsen, speaking on behalf
of Herseth, a member of the House Agriculture Committee. "It would certainly be many months to ramp up a system
like that, in effect, delaying implementation until sometime in 2007," said Herseth. The spending bill now moves to the
full House Appropriations Committee
for consideration.
"This just buys a little more time,"
said Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-Texas,
chairman of the agriculture subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. "It would be a nightmare to implement for producers across the country. It would also expose retailers to a
tremendous amount of liability."
The American Meat Institute, Washington, D.C., applauded the decision to
delay COOL legislation, as it continues supporting voluntary adoption of
such labels. Patrick Boyle, A.M.I. president, says COOL would only serve to
increase prices, a side effect that would
hinder the beef industry, already challenged by trade issues.
"Imposing added burdens on a finan-

Buckhead Beef names president
HOUSTON - Officials with Sysco Corp. have announced the promotion of John Foster as president of
Buckhead Beef Co. of Atlanta, Inc., a specialty meat
cutting and distribution subsidiary. Foster, a 23-year veteran of the meat industry, had most recently worked as senior vice president of purchasing and sales
with Buckhead.
Foster joined Buckhead Beef in 1992 as the company's first director of purchasing, and in 2000, he was promoted to the position he previously held. Prior
to joining Buckhead, Foster worked in various capacities with Swift & Co. and
Excel Corp. Sysco Corp. purchased Buckhead from its founder, Howard Halpern, in 1999. Halpern started the company in 1983.

cially strained industry with a lack of
any demonstrable consumer demand
is misguided public policy, and we are
pleased the members of the House are
recognizing this fact," said Boyle. "We
need to keep the meat industry nimble
and competitive, especially in these
tough economic times," Boyle says.
"Putting consumers in the demand driver seat by making country-of-origin labeling voluntary is smart public policy."

Gold Kist announces
higher income for
second quarter
ATLANTA - Despite lower sales, Gold
Kist, Inc., reported a 29 percent increase
in net income for its fiscal second quarter, ended April 2.
The publicly traded company's net income rose to $38.7 million, or 76 cents
per diluted share, from $29.9 million
during second quarter of 2004. Due to
reduced broiler prices, second-quarter
sales fell to $570.8 million from $575.6
million for the same period a year ago.
The change in net sales for the second
quarter of 2005 was due to a 9.1 percent
reduction in average broiler sales prices offset by an 8.4 percent increase in
broiler pounds produced and sold. Average broiler sales prices for the second
quarter were 4.9 percent higher than
prices for the first quarter, which ended Jan. 1, due to increased demand, said
John Bekkers, president and C.E.O.
Bekkers called the results "better than
expected" and said the company will
maintain its current strategy for the rest
of the year. "We believe we can reduce
the impact of industry volatility on our
results by increasing our value-added
products as a percentage of sales, improving our cost structure and growing
our private-label business," he said.

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May 2005

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Meat + Poultry - May 2005

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