Making a Measurable Impact on Members
As you know, Global Dairy Platform is preparing for its first Annual Meeting in Dublin, Ireland, from 30 September – 1 October 2007. The attendee list continues to grow and contains many leading players in the world’s dairy industry.
As we approach our first-ever annual event for members, I am pleased to be able to report on two separate occasions where GDP has played a part in aligning objectives from different parts of the world.
Firstly, a couple of weeks ago, I met with Paul Ford from the Gardiner Foundation, the dairy research foundation in Victoria, Australia, who briefed me on a foundation key initiative. The goal is to form a framework within which the dairy industry of Australia can ‘develop a scientifically, nutritionally, medically and ethically sound strategy for advancing research, development and marketing of Australian dairy products to key countries, so as to recognise and address key health issues facing those countries over the coming decade and beyond’. In writing the report/white paper, entitled ‘Health and Nutrition – Building the Dairy Pyramid’, the authors, who include a range of eminent academics, indicate that the objective has been to build major platforms, ‘which are in alignment with the key conclusions made in May by the GDP Communication and Scientific Advisory Board’.
GDP also has been working on repositioning milkfat with a group led by Doug DiRienzo, Senior Vice President for R&D at Dairy Management Inc., the U.S. checkoff organisation. Doug reports that the internal strategy of DMI has changed to become aligned with the strategy proposed in the GDP work.
We are pleased to have been of value to both groups. As the membership of GDP continues to increase and the number of initiatives that GDP is involved with broadens, I look forward to reporting many such examples of GDP influence. I look forward to seeing you in Dublin where we will discuss in greater detail some of GDP’s future directions.
Kevin Bellamy
Global Dairy Platform Executive Director