Beef producer attitudes to coordination and quality assurance in Canada and the UK

Abstract

Meat quality and safety systems around the world are experiencing unprecedented change. In many cases this is leading to closer vertical coordination along the supply chain, including participation by producers in farm assurance schemes. This paper reports the results of a survey of beef producers in the UK and Canada regarding their attitudes towards farm assurance schemes. Both British and Canadian beef producers indicated that closer vertical and horizontal coordination were important to the future prosperity of the beef industry. In the UK, the severe food contamination crises of recent years and the pressure from retailer “channel captains” have had a noticeable impact, with UK producers more likely to be members of a farm quality assurance scheme. The drivers for change in Canada have been weaker and as such, movement towards closer vertical coordination has been slower. Presented at the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, World Food and Agribusiness Congress, Florence, Italy, June 13-16 1999 John Spriggs is Professor of Agribusiness, Charles Sturt University, Wagga, Australia (email: spriggs98@yahoo.com); Jill E. Hobbs is Associate Director of Research, George Morris Centre, Calgary, Canada (email: jill@georgemorris.org); Andrew Fearne is Senior Lecturer, Food Industry Management, Wye College, UK