BEEF’s cutting-edge sustainability framework is not only about building consumer trust, it’s about stepping up and being part of a bigger industry.
Progressive grazier-owned beef retail chain Super Butcher’s managing director Susan McDonald made that point as she urged producers to hold each other accountable.
Speaking at the launch of the framework’s first annual update at Beef Australia in Rockhampton yesterday, Ms McDonald said taking this type of action made the beef industry more responsible and accountable.
“If you see your neighbour acting in a way which is outside of what you find acceptable, talk to them,” she said.
“Say ‘I’m not sure that’s what we want to see on the front page of the paper’.
“We all have to step up and be part of a bigger industry, rather than just act as individuals, for this to work.”
The framework, launched in April last year and driven by peak industry body the Red Meat Advisory Council, is a whole-of-industry initiative to define, measure, report on and guide sustainability.
It’s about meeting changing expectations of consumers, investors and other stakeholders and has widely been described by international food sustainability experts as world-leading.
This first of what will be a yearly update outlines the progress that has been made around six priority areas: animal husbandry, profitability, balance of tree and grass cover, antimicrobial stewardship, climate change and health and safety of people in the industry.
Ms McDonald, a member of the framework’s steering group, said consumers wanted to trust a product was everything they expected it to be and it was up to the beef industry to demonstrate its claims.
This type of work underpinned access to markets and premium prices, she said.
“Everyone around the world is working hard on the sustainability arms race and Australia is leading the way,” she said.
“This is the only one of its kind lead by industry and that makes it much more powerful.”
RMAC chair Don Mackay said markets around the world were demanding this type of sustainability work from all food producers.
“The reality is the whole world licenses you,” he said.
“Australian beef has moved to an evidence-based process so we can get in front.
“It’s not good enough to be reactionary, we have to tell the world what we are doing and the fact we are doing it well.”
One of the world’s biggest buyers of beef, fast food restaurant McDonald’s says it acknowledges to grow it needs to be able to source responsibly.
Director of strategic sourcing for beef, pork and fish Andrew Brazier, Chicago, said McDonald’s wanted its customers, of which there are about 70m a day, to feel good about eating its food.
McDonald’s has 35,000 restaurants globally, 80 per cent of which are owner-operated, across 120 countries.
“Beef is our biggest spend and also our biggest impact environmentally,” he said.
“We’ve looked at priority areas our customers are concerned about and came up with seven broad categories to focus on - protecting water resources, climate change, farmer profitability, conserving forest, food waste, antimicrobial stewardships, animal health and welfare - which align well with the beef industry’s work.”
Key updates include:
- Appointing an expert panel on balance of tree and grass cover that will advise industry on developing an evidence-based indicator and target across the areas of pasture health, managing regrowth, deforestation and vegetation management.
- $35 million research partnership established in animal husbandry.
- Pain relief products that can be administered by producers entered the market in late 2016.
- Established a proactive antibiotic monitoring program in Australian feedlots.