Synthesis Agri-Food Insights
July 3, 2009
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Greetings!
In today's complicated global marketplace, we are constantly
faced with a new barrage of issues and trends. All of them are significant
somehow, somewhere and to someone. But how important are they to agriculture
and what do they mean to those of us in business of food and farming?
Synthesis Agri-Food
Insights is a new report that will help you make sense of the top agri-business
developments by connecting the dots between current news and what it will mean
to you, to your business and to your customers.
Watch for it in your inbox regularly and let the team at
Synthesis Agri-Food Consulting help you understand agriculture's challenges and
opportunities by analyzing the issues and sharing their insights.
Rob Hannam, Mary Lou McCutcheon, Julien DenTandt and Heidi
Dancho are the team behind Synthesis and you'll have a chance to meet each of
them in an upcoming issue.
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H1N1 - Agriculture's
lessons learned
The recent outbreak of H1N1 influenza grabbed media
headlines and raised pandemic fears around the world. Although the early panic
has abated somewhat, there are infections in more than 100 countries, prompting
the World Health Organization to raise its influenza pandemic alert to phase
six, its highest level.
Its early misnomer "swine flu" was been widely used and has
unfortunately stuck, creating problems on many different levels for Canada's
beleaguered hog industry. The impacts of trade restrictions, decreased pork
demand fuelled by misinformation and negative public perceptions of the
industry will still be affecting the sector long after H1N1 is no longer making
the news. So what can be learned from this experience?
Consumers
are king
Public opinions and perceptions - whether right or wrong - rule
the agri-food industry and any changes in confidence or preference can
devastate or boost any sector at any time.
Be part
of the story
The 24 hour news cycle and the immediacy of new tools like
Twitter make it easy for misinformation - especially in the absence of facts -
to spread like a wildfire. And that damage can be hard to reverse once it's
done.
Be responsible and transparent
Openness
and honesty with the media and the public is important, as was illustrated by
how Maple Leaf responded to its listeria outbreak in 2008. Once you break the
public's trust, it's virtually impossible to regain it.
Be
Prepared
Every sector of agriculture must be better prepared for dealing
with these types of crises.
- More resources - both human and financial - should
be allocated towards preparedness.
- Identify potential "worst case scenarios"
for your sector.
- Start building relationships with the media.
- Establish
dialogue with the public so they know who you are and what you do.
- Improve
communications amongst members of the industry so you can work together
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