The B.C. Poultry Conference focuses on consumer relations

June 28, 2017, Vancouver, B.C. – With the goal of giving the poultry sector a higher profile among urbanites, the second annual B.C. Poultry Conference was moved to a venue closer to the heart of downtown Vancouver.

The new location allowed for more interaction with passersby during the public outreach portion of the event.

“More than 50 poultry farmers participated in the outreach,” B.C. Broiler Hatching Egg Commission executive director Stephanie Nelson said. The group handed out 500 Sunny Start breakfast sandwiches supplied by White Spot during the three-hour event held in early March.

“The response was pretty good,” conference chair Dale Krahn said. “We encountered a few vegans but most people were interested in what we were doing.”

While growers are not being attacked directly, Chicken Farms of Canada general manager Mike Dungate notes, “Our retail brands are being attacked.” Any reduction in retail consumption impacts production and is one reason the poultry sector is a driving force behind agriculture’s public trust steering committee.

Dungate says the industry has a lot of work to do. In a recent survey, 65 per cent of people called themselves chicken “fans,” but only 40 per cent of those have a positive opinion of chicken farmers. “That number concerns me,” Dungate said.

He noted building public trust “starts with everyone doing the right thing on their farm” and then communicating that to consumers. He lauded B.C.’s efforts in that regard.

Last year, B.C. chicken and hatching egg producers spent almost $120,000 on two Poultry in Motion educational mini-barns. The mobile barns were taken to schools and fairs throughout the province to show consumers how chickens are raised.

Two years ago, they launched a series of Chicken Squad videos to counter misconceptions about the industry. The videos have since garnered over a million views on YouTube and the board and association plan to debut a follow-up series of videos this spring.