Worked Hard for Our Own Label

I have been a long-time proponent of differentiating domestic product from the product that is imported for all the reasons that remain today.  The most important being, food safety.  We here in the state of Hawaii are the first port of call for many of the cargo ships from down under.  Our cow prices have always been directly connected to the imported product by our own processors.

The past 10 years have been spent building a natural grass-fed beef and lamb business.  We are currently processing 10 head of lamb and 20 head of beef cattle weekly.  We have gone through the labeling hoops, we have a source verified tracking system.  We have a good start on name recognition. 

We did all this to separate ourselves from the commodity bucket.  We have spent a large amount of money getting to where we are today, have used no outside help and are very proud of what we do.

My point is this.  Leave the source verification label identification to the producers like me.  We are the ones on the front line battling to get parity of value for the beef we are taking responsibility for raising.  Let the commodity bucket carry the rest of the industry, and buyer beware.

Rick C. Habein

Kamuela, Hawaii