The importance of building trust throughout the red meat value chain

“It takes time to build trust. The person or entity must prove themselves to be consistently trustworthy over a period of time. However, trust can be quickly broken by a single lie or other deceitful action. It can then take even longer to rebuild the trust that was lost. Trust cannot be forced; it can only be earned,” says Dr Pieter Vervoort, managing director of the National Animal Health Forum.

He explains that in South Africa, there has been a gradual erosion of citizens’ trust in government and corporations over the decades, and even between citizens. There has also been a breakdown in consumers’ trust of farmers and of the food value chain.

Vervoort says that one of the key reasons for this is