Meat + Poultry - December 2007 - 149

Executive Perspective

By Charles Olentine
B
E
Executive
Vice President
In
International Poultry Expo

or virtually
i t
everyone associated with the poultry industry,
the International Poultry Expo
(or the Southeastern from years ago)
brings numerous memories.
I was a graduate student at Clemson when I attended my first show in
1974. The show was held at the Atlanta
Civic Center where 233 exhibitors
displayed their products and services
inside the facility and outdoors. A
look at that year's list of exhibitors
provides a contrast of the changes that
have occurred in the industry from a
production and processing perspective.
Dr. Hearstsill Wilson and Sen. Howard
Baker were the featured speakers.
Nicholas H. Smith, director of the U.S.
Dept. of Agriculture's Energy Crisis
Activities, addressed "The Energy
Crunch" followed by a speaker who
addressed "Methane Gas Production"
and its economic potential by turning
poultry waste into power. Back then,
Albin Johnson, J-M Poultry Packing
Company, was president of the Southeastern Poultry & Egg Association.
Many of the downtown hotels had
not been built at the time and the show
was notorious for its wide array of
hospitality suites and other types of
entertainment. The association's College Student Career Program (still in
existence) introduced a new generation
of future poultry industry leaders to the
24

MEAT&POULTRY

latest technology and challenges.
Once in the workforce, I have always had a tie to the poultry industry
with an annual stopover in Atlanta in
January. The show has shown considerable growth over the years, with 2008
having over 16 acres of exhibit space and
more than 860 exhibitors. In the latest
rankings of all trade shows in the United
States (2006), the IPE ranked 76th in
size. That's not bad for a consolidated
and highly integrated industry.
Fast forward to 2008...I now find
myself having overall responsibility for
the show. Here is a brief outline of some
of the major changes I have seen over
the last 30-plus years.
* Although the industry has consolidated considerably, new technologies
and new regulations have created opportunities and the number of companies exhibiting has stabilized and may
even be increasing. The upcoming
show will feature a large number of
firms addressing the technological
challenges of energy conservation and
new avenues for converting waste into
value-added product.
* The international poultry industry
is evolving into a very homogenous
technological profile. Go to operations in
South America or Asia and you will see
companies using the same basic production and processing models seen in the
United States and Europe. In fact, many
of the processing companies are foreign
owned therein facilitating the convergence of technologies internationally.

2008 IPE Processors Handbook

www.MEATPOULTRY.com

The attendance of the IPE has become
considerably more international.
* With consolidation of poultry companies comes a change in the show's
demographics. We are seeing a focus
on quality of attendees as opposed to
numbers passing through the doors. In
year's past, attendees stayed for several
days. Today, there is a trend among attendees to come for 1 to 1-1/2 days to
focus on specific needs. The days of
roaming through the halls to window
shop have largely disappeared.
* Marketing channels have changed
considerably. With the advent of the Internet, how marketing dollars are spent
has changed dramatically. Large, gala
hospitality suites have been replaced
with more personal and focused customer meetings at the show.
* In the trade show business there has
been a trend to go horizontally. That is, a
number of trade shows have co-located
to broaden the attendee base and make
exhibiting a more efficient process. The
IPE is following this trend. The addition
of the International Feed Expo of the
American Feed Industry Association
has been a very positive move - one in
which the IPE will build on in the future
as other industries with interests in the
poultry market seek to grow.
The 2008 IPE promises to be one
of the biggest and best ever. It will continue to evolve with the industry and
although the past has been exciting, the
future holds the prospects of being even
more exciting.

http://www.MEATPOULTRY.com

Meat + Poultry - December 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meat + Poultry - December 2007