How to get a better spread? The concept of UK Beef plc was floated by a leading meat industry figure at Beef 2001. Andrew Chitty, md of the Chitty Food Group, put the idea forward as a means of providing a more even spread of the rewards through the chain. He told a largely farming audience that his company had not had any price increase for their products for five years. "If you guys think I have been ripping you off I have to tell you I am not," he said. "I have to deal with the retailers who are my customers, and they are college educated people who know the price of everything and the value of nothing. But I have to talk to them and listen to them." The food chain was complex and price driven but this made it confrontational. A new view of the chain as a system of adding value and providing a return based on costs of production and a suitable margin was a priority, he said. {{M/E MEAT }}

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