usda process verified
Post on 10-Jan-2016
34 Views
Preview:
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
USDA PROCESS VERIFIED
Michael Boland and Renee Sanden Kansas State University
Funded by Agricultural Marketing Resource Center
Why is K-State Involved?
• Increase awareness of process verification and how it may benefit many different value added ventures
• Gain first-hand knowledge about latest USDA certification
• Increase rate of learning process for other groups
• All Natural Beef
Cooperative• Rainbow
Organic Farms
• Retailers
• Kansas State
University
Markets• Hen House
– 15 locations in the Kansas City area
• Price Choppers– 4 locations in
Kansas City area• Community
Mercantile– One location in
Lawrence
All Natural Beef Cooperative
• Beef Producer Cooperative
• Supplies beef solely to program
• Operations vary in size, location and goals
Differentiation• Sought to differentiate themselves from
other value added beef programs• Main considerations
–Tastes good–Environmentally conscious–Humane treatment of animals–Local production–No hormones or sub-therapeutic
antibiotics
Process Verification
• USDA system
• Based on ISO 9000
• Provides third party audits for a fee
• Verifies that self-imposed label claims are credible
Claims
• Can be simple or complex as a group chooses
• The group wanted their claims to be valuable to the consumer
• They also wanted claims to reflect what they were already doing in their production practices
Producer Question
• Why did you decide to participate in this program?
GNFF Process Verified Claims
1) Raised on local, family size farm operations
2) No growth hormones
3) No sub-therapeutic antibiotics
4) 100% vegetarian ration (no animal by-products)
Claims continued…
5) No antibiotics during the finishing phase
6) Source of origin verified from producer through retailer
7) Dry-aged 10-14 days
Producer Question
• Why these particular claims?
Program consists of…..
• Self-written process verified manual• Training Guides• Major record keeping includes:
–Passports for each animal– Internal reviews–Records and affidavits for purchased
cattle
Producer Question
• What was the training like?
Audit
• First Audit, September of 2002• 2 Auditors came and visited 2 farms, 1
grocery store and the processing facility• Discussions were held to find out what
the program was missing to fulfill requirements
• Awaiting Process Verification
Producer Question
• What kinds of questions were you prepared to answer for the audit?
• How did you prepare?
Outcomes
• Currently only 8 programs in the U.S. are process verified– Excel Pork, Farmland Pork, PSF (pork), Pro
Pork Associates, Berkshire Pork, and Pederson’s Natural Farms
– PM Beef Group and Red Angus Association
• Consumers are not yet aware of what the label means
• Action will be taken to educate consumers once verification is received
Benefits• Producer
–Prepared for COOL and other regulations with record keeping
• Processor– Able to collect data that would otherwise
be unavailable
• Retailer– Able to gain knowledge and
understanding of products they sell
Accomplishments• Increased demand for beef by average of
per year 40% each year since 2000
• Average $0.12 per pound premium based on dressed weight since 2001
• High level of communication between producer, processor and retailer.
• High level of consumer education
Producer Question
• What are the benefits of Process Verification?
• What are the drawbacks?
Summary
• Need to be linked to consumer preferences– Implies vertical coordination or integration
• Not every operation can or should do this• There are some upfront costs
– Not major but the big cost is finding a “champion” to lead the process.
• Deciding what is to be process verified is important– Source of verification is likely to be the most widely
adopted• Not all animals are likely to be process verified
top related