BIC Hosts Center of the Plate Training

The Beef Information Center is partnering with the North American Meat Processors Association on a new Center of the Plate Training class, scheduled for Feb. 23 to 25 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

This is the first time BIC and NAMP have taken the class to western Canada. Participants from across the United States and Canada come from the retail grocery, foodservice and value-added processing industries, including delegates from M&M Meats, SYSCO, New Food Classics and Tim Hortons.
 
“The Center of the Plate Training course was a great opportunity to further my knowledge in the meat industry so that I can make better buying decisions for Tim Hortons,” said Mike Febbraro, who works in strategic sourcing for TDL Group Corp. “The skills I learned in this course will help me find ways to optimize proper meat cuts to offer best value for our restaurant owners.”

The class covers beef, veal, lamb and pork, as well as the always popular session on processed meats. BIC will conduct additional sessions with in-depth information on Canadian beef quality and marketing.

“Center of the Plate Training is an excellent course and I highly recommend it; in fact, we have sent a number of our staff,” said Nicole MacIsaac, Sysco center of the plate manager. “It was great to see so many people from across industry attending – marketing people, protein specialists and sales reps from retail and foodservice which created an opportunity for interesting dialogue as well.”

Steve Olson, NAMP’s standards and specifications advisor, and former USDA meat cuts specialist, will be the featured instructor.

Participants will receive a copy of NAMP’s new, expanded Meat Buyer’s Guide, which is completely applicable to the Canadian trade. 

The Canadian Meat Council, Canadian Meat Business magazine and the American Meat Institute Foundation also are sponsors of the Center of the Plate class in Vancouver. For complete course information, visit the event listing at www.namp.com.