SEMA_________________________________

SOUTHEASTERN MEAT ASSOCIATION
P.O. Box 620777; Oviedo, FL 32762 Phone: 407-365-5661

SEMA CONVENTION
Trends --> Changes --> Opportunity
The Club @ Hammock Beach
Palm Coast, FL
June 6th & 7th

Convention information and registration forms are available on the Conventions Page.

Visit the resort at www.hammockbeach.com

The SEMA convention will be held at the beautiful oceanfront Club @ Hammock Beach in Palm Coast, FL. June 6th and 7th. The resort is located on a quiet 2 mile stretch of beach between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach. When the workday is done, you will want to enjoy the resorts, golf courses, tennis courts, state of the art fitness center, sand beach pool, adult pool or the beach.
Pamper your spouse at the European-style spa. All SEMA guests will receive 10% off spa treatments on Friday June 6th. Book your spa treatments ahead, by visiting the resort website at www.hammockbeach.com, click on resort activities, spa.

Bringing the family, everyone will enjoy the multi-level swim pavilion with waterslides and a lazy river, there is also a kid’s pool and in case of rain an indoor pool. There is a kids club and activities for all ages.

Reserve your suite by May 5th to receive the special SEMA rate. Reservations can be made by calling the resort at 888.246.5500.

In place of the scholarship silent auction, donate $40.00 to the scholarship fund and dine on the 117- ft. Sundance yacht. Reception dockside at 6:30p.m., depart at 7p.m. for the two hour cruise up the inter-coastal waterway. The reception and dinner are included in your registration.

To stay competitive, corporations need knowledgeable leaders

Traceability is a hot topic this year and Gerry Gray, ERP Product Manager of CDC Software, will give a presentation on Reducing Recall Liabilities with Lot Tracing.

In response to the highly publicized large scale food recalls that have occurred over the last few years and diminishing consumer confidence, both regulators and the industry are responding with stricter guidelines and policies to ensure food safety. As a result of this increasing scrutiny, along with the growing complexity of the food supply chain, many food company executives are re-examining their ability to ensure the safety and quality of their products. This presentation discusses lot traceability as an effective means to address stricter food safety guidelines, while at the same time provide effective ways for companies to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Have you had your identity stolen? Some 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. Identity theft is defined as access to personal account information that leads to fraud. You may not know your identity has been stolen until you review your credit card statement and notice charges you did not make or you are contacted by a debt collector. In many cases it is not an easily resolved problem. Citizens Financial Partners, Ken Calhoun will share ways we can avoid identity theft.

Waste-water in processing plants is a problem but it may not have to be. Peter Cartwright of Cartwright Consulting has been in the water purification and wastewater treatment industry since 1974, and has had his own consulting engineering firm since 1980. Peter’s presentation will touch on preparing wastewater for discharge to municipal treatment plants and incoming water treatment for processing. There will be time to consult with Peter about your individual situation.

The convention will benefit owners, top management and sales associates

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Things to Ponder . . . . . . . . .
The wisest mind has something yet to learn.
George Santayana

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SEMA CONVENTION EXHIBITORS

There will approximately 30 to 35 tabletop exhibits this year. The following is a list of some Associate members exhibiting at the convention. You will want to meet them and see what’s new in the industry.

AMERICAN MEAT SCIENCE WORKSHOP

The American Meat Science is offering a QA 101 workshop in Gainesville, Florida June 21st and 22nd. The course will include the following topics:

• Introduction to QA Philosophy
• Product Quality Principles
• Collection and Use of Data
• Regulatory Issues
• Preparing for Audits
• Food Safety Concerns
• Shelf Life Issues

More information on the workshop can be found at www.qa101.org or www.meatscience.org.
SEMA members may attend the workshop and/or conference at the AMSA rate.

Following the workshop, the University of Florida will be hosting the American Meat Science Association, Reciprocal Meat Conference (RMC), June 22nd -25th in Gainesville, Florida. The Southeastern Meat Association will be a silver sponsor for the event. The Reciprocal Meat Conference is the annual meeting of the American Meat Science Association and features the latest research findings in a wide spectrum of topics. Over 600 professional and student members are expected from across the United States.

RMC and the host committee at the University are looking for Southeastern meat industry leaders that might be interested in donating locally-made products for the Sunday evening welcome reception (Sunday, June 22). Dwain Johnson is coordinating that effort on campus. If you are interested, get in touch with Dwain by e-mailing dwainj@ufl.edu or calling 352.392.1922.

INSURANCE

A large A+ rated insurance carrier has established a multi-line property and causality program for the Agribusiness Industry Segment. They define Agribusiness as any company whose primary operations fall somewhere within the Agribusiness Supply Chain. Most important is that this program has property capacity across the southeast including Florida and coastal areas. Many companies have had few options with their property coverage the last few years and this market will provide that coverage and very competitively. Some of their targeted classes include:

Some of the above target classes would include many of the SEMA members. This program has been up and running about 3 months and has been very aggressively priced. Insurance of America has an exclusive for this program at this time and was instrumental in getting this program started. Their program coverage’s includes property, general liability, product recall, auto liability, workers compensation, inland marine and umbrella.

Insurance of America’s Mark Sheffield specializes in servicing the agriculture industry as about 75% of his clients are agriculture related. Anyone that would like more information can call Mark at 888.269.6019 or 813.262.2446. Mark will also be at the SEMA convention on June 6 & 7.

FSIS ASK

Get answers to your questions. Log onto www.fsis.usda.gov and go to FSIS Ask.

HACCP- Monitoring Records

Question: If a monitoring procedure consists of taking multiple measurements, are separate entries required for each measurement (i.e. must each measurement includes a time, date and initials)?

Answer: If the establishment's HACCP plan lists the monitoring procedure (9 CFR 417.2(c)(4)) and that monitoring procedure consist of multiple measurements to ensure compliance with the critical limit, the entry made on the HACCP record should include each of the measurements made during the monitoring procedure. Only one time and one initial or signature would be required per 9 CFR 417.5(b) for the monitoring event. The establishment is responsible for ensuring the accuracy of all measurements, regardless of the number taken.

REGULATORY EDUCATION SESSION

Small and very small plant owners and operators are invited to join FSIS inspection personnel at regulatory education sessions to bring industry and inspection personnel together to promote a uniform understanding of the regulations.

To register call 800.336.3747 or for online registration forms and information about upcoming sessions go to:http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/index.asp.

The workshops will include a walk-through of a variety of topics, which may include HACCP, Sanitation Performance Standards, Sanitation SOPs, Rules of Practice, Food Defense strategies, E. coli 0157:H7 workshops, and Notices 65-07, 66-07 and 68-07.

Raleigh, NC | Register
Tuesday July 15, 2008
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM Holiday Inn Crabtree Valley
4100 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27612

Regulatory Web Seminars
The seminars will be conducted via Net Meeting. Net Meeting uses internet access for viewing the presentation and a phone line for the audio portion. Online registration forms are provided (valid email address required). Pre-registration is required. Upon registration, a seminar representative will contact you with instructions on joining the event. Email questions to netmeetingseminars@fsis.usda.gov.

NRA SHOW

The 2008 National Restaurant Show will be held at McCormick Place in Chicago, May 17th. The show is the world’s largest foodservice and hospitality event. For more information, visit the the NRA Show 2008 site: http://www.restaurant.org/show/index.cfm

COMMUNICATION

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced a public meeting that is being co-sponsored with the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to discuss strategies for improved coordination during multi-jurisdictional food borne outbreaks. The meeting will be held May 15th in St. Louis, Missouri.

SEMA INDUSTRY NEWS

SEMA members, if you have a press release, something to share or information to up-date, please send it to the SEMA office and it will be posted at no charge. Example, new salesperson, personnel promotions, expanding your company, etc.

White Oak Pastures, Georgia’s leading grass-fed beef producer, has announced completion of a long-awaited on-farm facility designed to process beef according to rigorous humane animal treatment standards and to minimize environmental impact. The company celebrated the new plant’s opening April 26th on the Bluffton farm that has been in company founder Will Harris’s family since 1866. There were event host representatives from Whole Foods Market, the One Georgia Authority, and the Early County Economic Development Authority, each of which contributed funds to construct the $2 million facility. White Oak Pastures beef can be purchased at more than 200 Publix supermarkets throughout the Southeast, at Whole Foods Market locations in the Atlanta area, and is distributed by Tree of Life. White Oak Pastures is family-owned and operated.

Stripling’s General Store was chosen as one of the two finalists for the “2008 Family Business of the Year Award”, in the small (fewer than 50 employees) category. The award is chosen from hundreds of nominated companies across the state of Georgia. Winning businesses are chosen on the basis of their proven business success, positive family/business linkage, multi-generational family business involvement, contributions to industry and community, and innovative business practices and strategy. The Cox Family Enterprise Center at Kennesaw State University initiated the Georgia Family Business of the Year Awards Program in 1991.

WELCOME NEW ASSOCIATE SEMA MEMBERS

Food Wholesalers in St. Petersburg, Florida has been a family owned company for over twenty five years. Originally established as a master distributor of frozen meats and vegetables to independent food service companies, they have shifted their focus to selling meats to independent meat markets, restaurants and processors. This year Food Wholesalers proudly became the exclusive distributor for Excalibur Seasoning for the Southeastern United States. With the addition of the Excalibur line they gained over seven thousand items, including, marinades, breading, spices, chemicals, and custom blends. The addition of Excalibur also allows Food Wholesalers to deliver both meats and seasonings to processors.

For questions regarding Excalibur Seasoning call Chuck Bennett at 727-742-0618, to place an order call Jim Anson 727-481-4622.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Companies that invest in employee learning have higher productivity, revenue growth,
and profit growth than companies that do not.