American Butter Institure The 2013 Annual Conference of the American Butter Institute & the American Dairy Products Institute will be held April 28-April 30, 2013, at the Chicago Marriott Downtown.

The 2013 Conference promises to be educational and informative and will feature two days of speakers and programs on various industry topics. As in the past few years, record attendance is expected.

"This meeting is critical in that it brings together industry leaders with their customers. The dairy industry's landscape is changing, and the sessions at the meeting will provide attendees insight into how we need to prepare for the changes, not only domestically but internationally," said David Riemersma, President of Butterball Farms and president of ABI.

The Conference Agenda is finalized, and can be accessed by clicking on the link at the bottom of this release. The meeting will kick off Sunday evening with Rick & Teresa Kaepernick, father of San Francisco 49er and Super Bowl Quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Rick and Teresa will share their experience and provide insight into Colin's successful rise from a young athlete to a Super Bowl star. This will be followed by a Welcome Reception, which will provide participants with an opportunity to meet and greet other conference attendees.

Monday's session will begin with a panel discussion on the industry's current market conditions and outlook with expert panelists from Blimling & Associates, ADM Investor Services, Rabobank International and T-Storm Weather, LLC. This will be followed by a panel on key challenges and opportunities in the dairy ingredient sector. Rounding out the April 29 Monday morning session will be the Recognition Luncheon announcing the 2013 ADPI Award of Merit winner, as well as the recipient of the Jim Page Memorial Scholarship.

There has been much discussion and conversation about traceability practices in the food sector, particularly in the wake of recent recalls and the U.S. government's recently-enacted Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The first afternoon session on ingredient traceability will be moderated by Craig Nelson, Food Automation, LLC. Speakers include: Dermot Carey, Darigold, Matt Mathison, Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Marianne Smukowski, WI-Center for Dairy Research and Vikki Nicholson, U.S. Dairy Export Council.

Tuesday's program on April 30 starts with a morning breakfast with Richard Field, Orrani Consulting, who will provide information on China's dairy market. This will be followed by a session entitled "Dairy Industry 2020 Vision – A CEO's Perspective." The panelists include top dairy industry chief executives who will discuss what future opportunities lay head for the dairy processing industry over the next several years. Panelists include Clay Galarneau, Michigan Milk Producers Association, Mark Korsmeyer, Dairy Farmers of America, Inc., David Lenzmeier, Milk Specialties Global and Jerry O'Dea, Glanbia Nutritionals Ingredient Technologies.

The Industry Luncheon will feature motivational speaker Chad Hymas, World-class wheelchair athlete, world record holder & author.

Separate Board of Directors meetings for ADPI and ABI, as well as assorted committee meetings, will be held during the afternoons on both Monday and Tuesday.

The complimentary social hours held each afternoon in the exhibit hall and the sizeable receptions held on Monday and Tuesday evenings will provide abundant opportunities to network with over 750 senior level executives from manufacturers, marketers, suppliers, distributors and brokers of manufactured dairy products. The exhibit hall will be buzzing with activity with vendors from various aspects of industry where they will highlight the products and services their company provides. Tuesday's reception will also allow attendees to taste test a variety of world championship cheeses.

Additional information about the 2013 ABI/ADPI Conference is available at www.butterinstitute.org including online registration and exhibitor information. Information may also be obtained by contacting the American Butter Institute at 703-243-5630 or by email AMiner@nmpf.org.

04.05.2013