The American Feed Industry Association held its annual Purchasing and Ingredient Suppliers Conference (PISC) this week in Orlando, Fla. The three-day event offered approximately 650 attendees valuable discussions on what’s happening in the animal food industry and networking opportunities between feed ingredient buyers and sellers.
“PISC attendees had the opportunity to hear from experts on many hot-button issues in the animal food industry, such as sustainability and African swine fever,” said Veronica Rovelli, AFIA’s senior director of meetings and events. “Not only did they get an update on current issues, our members had the opportunity to foster and deepen relationships with their suppliers and clients.”
This year’s educational program featured several experts who spoke on topics such as: a keynote about “the battle to do good” on incorporating sustainability practices into corporate programs; an update on current research on African swine fever; the future of the agricultural industry and its impacts; an outlook on the political landscape; and discussions on the economics and trade environment for the U.S. feed industry.
On incorporating sustainability into your business, speaker Bob Langert said that businesses should not underestimate how important it is for overall brand health.
“People care about the issues of sustainability. It is important for them to know where their food comes from, what’s in it and how it’s processed,” said Langert, president of Mainstream Sustainability and retired vice president of sustainability from McDonald’s Corp. “I can’t over emphasize that of all 42-key metrics on brand health that McDonald’s had, the one on ‘do I feel good about the food I’m eating at McDonald’s?’ was probably the most important.”
Conference attendees also had the opportunity to meet with 10 members as part of the PISC Suppliers Showcase and participate in other networking activities, such as the annual golf tournament and sporting clays outing. The event also raised $1,300 to support research and education projects through the Institute for Feed Education and Research.
Next year’s conference will be held March 17-19, 2020, in Seattle, Wash. For pictures from this year’s PISC, see AFIA’s Facebook page.
