Highlights from the Chair | Changing for the better in 2021

We sat down with Kelly Smith-Fraser, Chair of ABP, to talk about her first year as chair, and hopes for the future. Here is what she had to say…

Each New Year brings a new start, thankfully. The past year has been tough, but when I look back I also appreciate the opportunities it brought. While 2020 challenged businesses across the board, as an industry we proved we can adapt.

Last year at the AGM, as the first woman chair of the organization since its inception 51 years ago, I recall saying: “It has been said that today we made history, but I don’t think that today was the history-making – history will be made by what we do in the year ahead.”

I also said that, at the end of my term I do not want to hear producers asking: “What is ABP? What do you guys do?”

Well, we did it! With the support of the ABP Board, we are already communicating differently with producers, we’ve pivoted directionally to increase engagement, and we’re using new mediums to get our message out.

The changes we’ve made going into 2021 have forged a new path for ABP. It’s an exciting time to be part of this organization and, I’m confident we’ll see this year the benefits of the work done in 2020.

One success story is the exciting news our board received last fall that we confirmed an opportunity to place our Alberta branded beef program onto a new global platform. While we are still finalizing this launch and awaiting approvals for the formal introduction (stay tuned!) I couldn’t be more excited nor proud to be an Alberta beef producer.

Alberta beef is a brand people recognize and request. It’s tangible evidence that the work of brand building has made a real difference, not just at home, but around the world. It wasn’t a result of our work just this past year, it was the result of over 50 years of work you, our producers, have done to develop an awesome product and producer organizations have done to promote it.

We’re transforming the organization, communicating differently, and seeing the fruition of our brand-building work through the export of Alberta branded beef. It’s a success we’ve all been part of, and can take pride in.

I am looking forward to an incredible year ahead and all the positive momentum we are building.

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This article was first published in Volume 1 Issue 1 of ABP Magazine (February 2021). Watch for more digital content from the magazine on ABP Daily.