CPMA looks ahead to 2020 in semi-annual board meeting
CPMA looks ahead to 2020 in semi-annual board meeting
The Canadian Produce Marketing Association held its semi-annual board meeting in Ottawa in mid-September, allowing participants to take a strategic look at where the organization is in terms of its current five-year plan and look ahead to the 2020 plan.
The event took place over three days and yielded some interesting results, including a change to the convention format.
“Our board meets so we can review the strategic direction of each of our committees and the overall corporate plan,” according to CPMA President Ron Lemaire. “Then we review the budget, which has already been prepared leading into that meeting, and approve it for the committees, which meet afterwards to begin the planning process for the coming year.”
CPMA’s scope of work is so large, the organization relies on its committees to drive issues, while the board is more strategic in its efforts to make sure it meets the needs of members and delivers a high return on investment.
The committee work is as diverse as the interests and needs of the membership. Some of the topics at the meeting included traceability, labeling, financial risk mitigation, Destination Inspection single licensing, a single nutrient database and food safety.
The planning process also began on the 2020 five-year plan, which CPMA hopes to present to members in 2015. “The vision will continue to be population health and industry prosperity,” said Lemaire. “The two go hand-in-hand and as the elements of the 2020 plan come to light in the coming year, the membership will be extremely happy with our investment in their future. Building on our food systems modeling is a key foundational element of our plan for 2020.”
The agenda included work on the Half Your Plate program consumer launch in 2015. Lemaire was excited about the level of acceptance the Half Your Plate message has in both the produce community and the health community at large, noting the joint CPMA/Canadian Public Health Association Health Summit held in April was pivotal in gaining that agreement. The next step will be to get the message out to the general public in order to generate a pull on retail. Announcements will be made on the launch and the target in early 2015.
Another big piece that came out of the meeting was a change to the convention format. Beginning with the Calgary tradeshow, CPMA’s annual convention will run from Tuesday to Thursday instead of Wednesday to Friday. The shift is in response to member feedback on the need to recover weekends.
