Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 9/15/11
 

The North American Meat Processors Association board of directors Wednesday tabled a decision on whether or not to merge with the National Meat Association, a move NMA’s board approved in August.

The board, meeting at NAMP’s Outlook Conference in Del Mar, Calif., issued a statement saying it asked its executive committee to “continue to explore the possibility as well as the benefits of a merger with NMA.”

"There were some details the board wanted to wrestle through," NAMP outgoing board chairman and Natural Food Holdings President Gary Malenke told Meatingplace, but he declined to say what those details are.

The board did decide to invite all NMA members to the NAMP March Management Conference at the NAMP member rate to allow members to meet NMA members.

A decision may, however, come before the March meeting. Malenke said that although the NAMP board has not set a timeline for its decision, it might not wait until its next in-person meeting in March to decide. "We owe NMA an answer."

While a merger would obviously boost membership size, each of the industry’s four major associations has its own culture, one observer pointed out. NAMP has traditionally served many further processors. NMA’s membership, while national, is often geographically associated with the western part of the country, as it was founded in California.

American Meat Institute membership also includes small and medium sized processors, though AMI is sometimes perceived as the voice of the largest meat processors, while the American Association of Meat Processors largely represents the interests of small and very small operators.

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