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IDFA 
Tue Jan 19, 2010 at 12:40:32 PM PST
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Today I sat on a panel at the International Dairy Food Association's Dairy Forum. The topic was "What do consumers want - really?" The panelists were a longtime Washington Post writer who now works at Powell Tate, Sally Squires, an exec from Sargento cheese, Louie Gentine, and a marketing guru, Tom Nagle. I told the audience that I wore a red shirt so that if they threw rotten tomatoes at me at least the stains would blend in. I was very much there to represent a minority opinion that was probably not a welcome one for many dairy processors. It was an extremely pleasant and lively debate and I really enjoyed each of the panelists and everyone from IDFA that I met here at the Dairy Forum.
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Sun Jan 17, 2010 at 09:22:21 AM PST
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At this moment, I am at the airport, minutes from boarding a plane to Phoenix. I am headed there to speak on a panel about consumer opinion for IDFA (International Dairy Foods Association) conference. I hesitated before accepting the invite because IDFA is an industry trade group and I do not want my independence compromised by affiliations with food industry ties. I asked a few dairy farmers for their opinions on the invite and they said "Go for it!" One added: "We'll never get anywhere if we only preach to the choir. And, you might learn something!" That's a good point. And, while IDFA is covering the costs of the trip, I'm not being paid to speak. (For that matter, if they had offered to pay me, I wouldn't have accepted it.)
So what will I be saying there? The panel is about consumer opinion on dairy products. I plan to say that consumers do NOT want high fructose corn syrup, rbGH, high quantities of sodium, milk protein concentrate, artificial food dyes, parabens, and excess amounts of added sugar in their food. And they DO like when milk comes from cows grazed on pasture from small dairy farms, especially when dairy farmers are compensated fairly for their milk. Of course these issues vary in the percent of customers (and regulators and media) that are aware of them, but they all pose both opportunities and threats to dairy product manufacturers. It's a threat if your product contains nasty ingredients and the public turns against you, and an opportunity to gain good public opinion and market share if your product is a leader in ditching the nasty stuff.
The other issue that will likely come up is dairy in schools - particularly chocolate milk. From my perspective, the dairy industry has a moral high ground when it comes to beverages served in schools. Milk is what the kids SHOULD be drinking. But chocolate milk is not. I don't think the dairy industry and I will agree there as 70% of milk sold in schools IS flavored milk. Dairy companies fear that the kids will prefer 100% juice to milk unless chocolate milk is an option. I'd say that kids should be eating their fruit, not drinking it. And milk should be kept cold in schools so it tastes good. What could be better to wash down your PB&J with than ice cold milk? Chocolate milk aside, I'd LOVE to see the dairy industry beat up on the soda companies to try to get sodas (even diet sodas), energy and sports drinks, and juice drinks out of schools. And for goodness sake, if you're going to sell chocolate milk in schools, pretty please don't put high fructose corn syrup in it!
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Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 16:50:15 PM PDT
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Let me introduce you to Michael Torrey. Right now he owns his own lobby firm (Michael Torrey Associates) where he lobbies for clients like the Snack Food Association, dairy giant Dean Foods, WhiteWave Foods (Silk Soymilk), Agricultural Professional Services, the Crop Insurance Research Bureau (an insurance industry trade group), Veriprime (a beef cooperative), and Rudolph Foods (a pork rinds company).
Torrey began his career way back in 1987 when he worked for the Kansas Grain & Feed Association. From there, he went into government work as a staffer for Republican Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum from 1990-93. In 1993, he left governmet for the private sector as the Vice President of the Kansas Grain and Feed Association and Kansas Fertilizer Association.
Then he went back to government, as legislative assistant to Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole from 1993-95. In 1996 he worked on Dole's Presidential campaign and he worked as a legislative assistant for Senator Sheila Frahm. Then he got a job at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission where he stayed until 1998.
In 1998, he went into lobbying, as the VP of Legislative Affairs for the International Dairy Foods Association (a group hated by most dairy farmers I know). He stayed there until 2003, when he got a job in the Bush Administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations at the USDA. In 2004, he changed jobs within the USDA to become Deputy Chief of Staff. In 2005, he left the USDA to found his own lobby firm.
In the 2008 election cycle, Torrey gave $21,200 in political contributions. That includes:
$3000 to Jerry Moran for Congress (R-KS)
$3000 to Todd Tiahrt for Congress (R-KS)
$2500 to Restore America PAC, Inc (Sam Brownback's PAC)
$2300 to John McCain for President (R-AZ)
$2300 to Sam Brownback for President (R-KS)
$2300 to Lynn Jenkins for Congress (R-KS)
$2300 to Elizabeth Dole for Senate (R-NC)
$1000 to Mike Johanns for Senate (R-NE)
$1000 to the North Carolina Federal Senate Committee (Republican)
$1000 to Friends of John Boehner
$500 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee
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