Glen Nimmo, AHDB’s new Pork Sector Council chair, outlines his thoughts after his first few weeks in the role.
It’s been two months since I was appointed as the Chair of the AHDB Pork Sector Council in April, and it’s fair to say I’ve been trying to meet as many people across the industry as possible.
Before I talk about my first impressions of the role, I want to start with a bit about me, as I’m conscious not everyone will know who I am. My background is in pork processing. I may not have been at the coalface for the last 30 years, but I grew up working in my family’s bacon and cooked meats business.
I trained as a butcher. I managed the lines at our dedicated retail packing plant. I know where all the meat goes, and I know how it’s all processed. Rest assured; I know one end of a pig from another.
More recently I have been involved in finance and have been a specialist investment analyst covering the quoted food sector. I’ve watched the development of businesses like Cranswick and Hilton Food Group and engaged with very senior management at these companies on a regular basis to discuss strategy.
As AHDB seeks to increase its evidence-driven decision making and look more strategically at the benefits it can provide to its levy payers, I believe that I can contribute meaningfully to that process.
My initial impression of AHDB is that it’s passionate about improving the outcomes for its levy payers. After the changes demanded of it over the last two years, I felt there was a risk that the organisation might have suffered a crisis of confidence. But I do not get any sense of that. If anything, it’s motivated to push on further and harder than before.
So, to the work in hand over the next three years. In the very short term, I must get my knowledge up to speed pre-farmgate. I’m less experienced in breeding and raising pigs. I understand what the key dynamics are in terms of the cost feed and fuel. But the minutiae, the things that keep farmers awake at night, I’m less attuned to that. I’m in listening mode; understanding how levy payers view the work that AHDB is doing.
I see my role as providing an effective conduit between the Pork Sector Council and AHDB’s executive teams. The sector council has the industry knowledge and I want to help it make decisions about how funds should be directed.
But, at the same time, it’s a two-way process so my role may be to go back to the council to explain the reasons behind decisions.
Marketing, exports and reputation have previously been identified as the three areas of our focus. I need to ensure that work continues to generate a return on the levy for the whole industry while building on our high standards of animal welfare.