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Proposal gets positive airing


Growers speak in support of national raspberry council. By Tamara Leigh


R


aspberry growers are one step closer to a decision by the National Food Products Council


to establish a national raspberry council. The panel responsible formaking


the recommendation to the board held a hearing about the proposal in October at the Abbotsford Ramada. Intervenors addressed the panel,


and voiced their support for the proposal. They included TomDemers fromthe B.C. VegetableMarketing Commission,Mark Sweeney fromthe B.C.Ministry of Agriculture, Tom Baumann fromthe University of the Fraser Valley, andHenry Bierlink and AdamEnfield of theWashington Red Rasp Commission. Growers also had an opportunity to present their perspectives. “I amfeeling very positive, and


think we did a really good hearing,” says Sharmin Gamiet, executive director of the Raspberry Industry Development Council. “Growers shared some compelling stories about the challenges raspberry farmers are facing that they hope will be addressed by having a national council.” Recent funding cuts to federal berry


breeding programs have highlighted the importance of having a national council able to invest in variety development and other industry research. “The berry breeding programwas


vital to the survival of our industry,” says Gamiet. “Breeding requires a long-termvision and it takes time to do it. In today’s globalmarket we face challenges on cost of production, impacts of climate change, and lack of labour. All of these require different management techniques and different


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British Columbia Berry Grower • Winter 2013-14 11


varieties than we had five or 10 years ago.” A national council would also help


drive the promotion of raspberries and their health benefits in a Canada-wide consumer campaign to strengthen the localmarket. “People look at the success of


blueberries and cranberries, and the common link is that they have an amazingly effective promotion programbased on science,” Gamiet explains. “As soon as the consumer gets a health benefit story, the consumption goes up. That information is put out there through a promotional information program.” The campaign to establish a national


council is being supported by growers, academics, technical experts and even importers. According to Gamiet, the importers have an important role to play because they supply the largest amount of raspberries to the Canadian consumermarket.While a national council would aspire to strengthen the Canadian industry, increasing consumer demand will benefit all raspberry suppliers. “Our prices are really low for our


commodity given the costs of producing our product. You can’t regulate a price because this is a markets based commodity, and you can’t regulate your costs.What you can do is build a robust industry,” says


Sharmin Gamiet


Gamiet. “You can do that by building the demand for your commodity, building confidence in the product, and building consumer excitement.” Gamiet and boardmembers of the


Raspberry Industry Development Council will travel to the second hearing in Ottawa on November 5, 2013. After the hearings, the panel will make a recommendation to the Farm Products Council Board of Directors to accept or reject the proposal. They may also choose to adopt some aspects and amend others. Fromthere the FarmProducts


Council board of directors willmake their recommendation to theMinister of Agriculture, who will then present it to Cabinet. No one is willing to speculate on how long the process may take.


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