Nowadays business is highly developed all over the world and it is very important to find a niche that will be profitable and will provide opportunities for business growth. Since it is impossible for a human being to live without food consumption, the food industry is one of the most productive and profitable businesses existing. Animal production is very developed all over the world and in the United States in particular. According to the data provided by the United States Department of Agriculture, animal production includes dairy resources, poultry resources, pork resources, alternative livestock, and, certainly, beef resources that have been chosen as the topic for the present work. Concerning this area of animal production, the United States Department of Agriculture states that America is “the world’s largest beef producer and second-largest beef exporter, but significant imports of lower-valued processing beef also make it the world’s largest beef importer” (United States Department of Agriculture unpaged). Thus, beef production seems to be one of the most promising branches of animal production in the USA and is chosen as the topic of the present work. As for the choice of a person for the interview, we were relying on the list of people who were leading in the Animal Production Industry. The most authoritative figures in the industry are Jack Hunt, President and CEO of “King Ranch, Inc.”; Zachary Casey, President and CEO of “Pelts & Skins, LLC” to name a few. However, one of the most prominent figures in the industry is Robert Rebholtz, President and CEO of “Agri Beef Co”. He has been chosen for the interview concerning his business, challenges that are faced by him, and the plans of the company for the future. The contact information is the following: 1555 Shoreline Dr. 3rd Fl. Boise, ID 83702 United States. Phone: 208-338-2500 Fax: 208-338-2605
“Agri Beef Co” was founded by Robert Rebholtz in 1968, nowadays it is still a family-owned business that has found “a sizable niche within the niche market of non-commodity beef” (Fussell 338). Thus, for five decades already the company has been one of the most authoritative companies in the industry. It is necessary to mention that “Agri Beef Co.” “started out as a ranching and cattle feeding operation” (Official website of “Agri Beef Co.” unpaged). The owner of the company set a very ambitious but reasonable goal in front of his company, Robert Rebholtz wanted to produce beef of the highest quality and as the result of his persistent work and the work of his team, nowadays the company is an inseparable participant of all stages of beef production that follows beef “from birth to plate”, “Argi Beef Co.” is the leader in ranching, cattle feeding, animal nutrition, beef processing, marketing, and sales (Official web-site of “Agri Beef Co.” unpaged). The key criteria of successful work that are used by the company’s leader are sustainability, high quality of services and products offered to consumers, and fair business relationships. One of the company’s main features is its specialization in Kobe Beef, a special kind of beef remarkable for its delicious taste.
The interview with Robert Rebholtz will be focused on two basic areas of great interest: the challenges that the company faces nowadays and the ways how to cope with the main problems in the field, and the plans of the company for the future. The interview will be presented in the first person, Robert Rebholtz’s narrative will be reproduced.
As for the main challenges that “Agri Beef Co.” is facing today, it is necessary to state that the reputation of the company as the leader in the field is the cause of great responsibility and constant necessity to support the authority and to meet very high demands set in front of the company. It is known that today society is concerned with the state of the environment and environmental problems that threaten humanity and the Earth. “Agri Beef Co.” feels the responsibility for natural resources it is using because if one is consuming a resource, he is responsible for its protection as well because equilibrium should be maintained in nature. So, “Agri Beef Co.” is working in the direction of minimizing dependence on fossil fuels by means of the use of local crops and cattle and production operations exercised by the company allow it to decrease its carbon footprint (Official website of “Agri Beef Co.” unpaged). Besides, recycling is the policy applied by the company to cope with the challenge of environmental problems. “Agri Beef Co.” is working in the direction of the creation of natural fertilizers that may be used by farmers the work aimed at the restoration of wetlands is also in progress and has produced valuable results already.
The second main challenge faced by the company is the necessity to preserve the high taste properties of beef and raise the quality of beef to the level unattainable for the competitors. In order to do that “Agro Beef Co.” makes use of an advanced feeding system and manages our cattle on the basis of individual characteristics, thus, applying an individual approach. The state of health of our cattle is regularly monitored by our efficient specialists.
As for the plans for the future, it is necessary to state that every good businessman should make forecasts and seek innovations preserving his present strong points but enriching and developing them adjusting to the future demand. The main task for the future of “Agri Beef Co.” is to maintain its reputation as the leader in the beef industry. Innovative strategies the increased productivity will be applied by us, at the same time we will try to keep market prices affordable for the consumer.
Nowadays “Agri Beef Co.” has a new partnership with Lunds & Byerly’s, a 21-store retail chain in Minneapolis (Official website of “Agri Beef Co.” unpaged). In the future “Agri Beef Co.” is planning to establish a partnership with suchlike companies in order to get firmer marketing standing. Besides, the company is planning to continue and increase attention to the well-being of animals because mistreatment of animals should not be allowed in any sphere. The company is also planning to introduce new brands of beef products that will be aimed at particular social and age groups of consumers. Certainly, new strategies of environmental protection will be created and introduced during the next five years. On the whole, the company will constantly work to provide the consumer with a production of the highest quality, it will make investments into the sphere of agricultural education in order to provide itself with efficient employees, and it will develop in many new directions maintaining the high quality of the present services and products.
Drawing a conclusion, it is necessary to state that as is show by the interview of Robert Rebholtz “Agree Beef Co” is the perfect example of a successful company in the beef industry. It is ready and eager to meet new challenges, it is flexible and developing. It introduces new plans that will help to protect the environment, increase beef production, provide new employment opportunities. “Agree Beef Co.” may be used as a model to follow for new companies in the animal production industry.
Works Cited
Fussell, Betty. Raising Steaks: The Life and Times of American Beef. Orlando, FL: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008.
Official web-site of “Agri Beef Co.” Web.
United States Department of Agriculture. Animal Production. Web.