The U.S. meat and poultry industry accounts for $1.02 trillion in total economic output, or 5.6% of the total U.S. GDP. All totaled, the meat and poultry industry (packers, processors, wholesalers and retailers), and not counting the thousands of producers, directly employ 1.9 million people, paying $71.63 billion in wages and benefits. (Source: NAMI, 6-23-2016)

The economic impact and high visibility of our society’s annual 200-lbs-per-capita meat and poultry consumption provides our industry with an opportunity to shape public opinion.

Within our industry, the meat- and poultry-processing workforce is predominantly male and overwhelmingly made up of people of color, with a large percentage of immigrants and refugees. (Source: American Community Survey (ACS), an annual survey of the U.S. population administered by the U.S. Census Bureau)

On a percentage basis, Black Americans consume more chicken than either Hispanic or White Americans. Hispanics consume more beef and pork than either Whites or Blacks. Interestingly, while Whites may be the majority race in the U.S., they are in the minority in meat consumption behavior. (Source: ERS) Additionally, in my estimation, women are still the predominant buyers, AKA shoppers, for meat and poultry.

With these facts in mind, I am suggesting that our industry can provide leadership for our society and other industries by more fully embracing racial and gender diversity in ownership/management and marketing efforts correlating with its diverse workforce and consumers.

Ownership/management

If the majority consumer of meat and poultry is either Black or Hispanic, the production processes for both have predominantly Black and/or Hispanic line workers and the purchase influencer is female, shouldn’t the management of these plants and companies reflect similar ethnicity and gender? Why? Before I answer that, what about the upper management ranks, even ownership and/or boards of directors of these same companies? Shouldn’t they, too, be of similar ethnicity and gender?

My answer to both is "yes". A start for such racial and gender diversity is education and training for all levels of employees. It simply is not acceptable to say that there are not enough trained — or for that matter, capable — female and potential minority employees for a meat company’s management and/or worker roles. Further to my answer to “why” management should mirror the ethnicity and gender of its workforce is to enhance its ability to empathize, understand and thus, better communicate with and manage its different constituencies.

Just as important, if not more so, is this from the consulting firm McKinsey and Co., from a 2015 study:

Companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35% more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.
Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15% more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.

Marketing

I am not a fan of the generic, “Beef. It’s what’s for dinner” campaign. Forty years of declining beef consumption during the campaign is witness to the fact that it has not been effective in building beef consumption but rather lectures consumers on what they should eat — beef. However, now that Tony Romo has been selected as its spokesperson, I hope that trend is reversed. My bigger concern is that by Mr. Romo’s very selection, the beef industry has implied that only a white male can effectively help market beef. Such a belief belies both beef production and consumption statistics.

Meat and poultry marketing must be much more reliant on gender and racial diversity to be more effective with the full gamut of its consumers. Our industry has the opportunity to lead in racial and gender diversity, but we must fundamentally change our mindset to do so.

Great strides have been made by many in the diversity of race and gender in their plant’s front line management ranks, but not necessarily in the ownership, boards or upper management levels and marketing efforts. Think how such diversity could be a positive impact for your company.

There is much left to be done in these categories that can only serve as a positive example for both our industry and the rest of society.

Racial, gender diversity: Lead, follow or get out of the way

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