Encouraging innovation with chicken

Apr 11, 2018

New products could help industry adapt to changing consumer preferences

By Kaitlynn Anderson
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Ontario’s chicken farmers and other members of the industry may be more equipped to address shifting preferences in the marketplace, thanks to a new program from the Chicken Farmers of Ontario (CFO).

The Ontario Chicken Innovation and Growth Program aims to encourage industry members – such as processors, food service companies, restaurants and retailers – to create new products for consumers, according to a release last week.

To be eligible for the program, applicants must submit the following information about their products:

description
minimum of six months of historical sales data
forecasted sales data
market research
marketing plans

The innovations must be made using chicken completely raised and processed within the province.

After the Independent Advisory Committee reviews all applications, the panel of experts will select the successful innovations.

Then, to reward the inventors of the chosen products, the CFO will provide them with “an additional volume of chicken kilograms to process,” Rob Dougans, CFO’s president and CEO, told Farms.com this week.

Overall, this program will allow the industry to be responsive to many people’s changing food preferences, such as their desire for lean proteins, he said.

“Our goal … is to accelerate innovations that meet those changing consumer demands.”

The CFO is eager to recognize product developers within the industry.

“We’re really looking forward to seeing the applications,” Dougans said. “This industry is full of innovators … and we encourage any company involved in the processing, marketing and sale of chicken in Ontario to apply.”

Interested parties can submit applications for the program until July 13.

wikoski / iStock / Getty Images Plus photo

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.