The Red Meat Industry Services (RMIS) has launched its “Field to Future” framework, a project prioritisation process aimed at aligning research, development, and implementation initiatives with South Africa’s red meat sector growth targets for 2030.
The industry-led innovation plan was introduced during a webinar attended by stakeholders from across the red meat value chain to build a resilient, globally competitive future for the sector.
As part of this initiative, RMIS will be activating eight thematic Focus Area Groups starting May 2025. These groups will drive the bottom-up identification of key industry challenges and solutions, acting as the first filter in the R&D funnel.
Participants include producers, veterinarians, researchers, processors, and market experts—all uniting to define priorities across areas such as animal health, meat safety, inclusive growth, market access, and sustainability.
"Our goal is to shift from legacy silo approaches to a truly unified, responsive system," said Dewald Olivier, CEO of RMIS. "This process enables stakeholders to co-create practical, high-impact projects with clear alignment to the Red Meat Industry Strategy 2030."
Industry-wide collaboration encouraged
Following the webinar, attendees were invited to share their perspectives on the Field to Future framework, express interest in joining specific Focus Area Groups, and nominate facilitators to guide each group through the next phases of the process.
The Field to Future structure is designed to evolve—from national meetings in 2025 to regional clusters by 2027—ensuring inclusive representation and agile, evidence-based project development. Ultimately, prioritised topics will feed into RMIS’s innovation unit and be packaged into funded projects for industry-wide benefit.
All stakeholders are encouraged to contribute to this industry-wide R&D initiative to ensure the framework’s success and advance a resilient, competitive red meat industry.
For those who were unable to attend the webinar, the full session is available for viewing on the RMIS YouTube channel.
Stakeholders are also encouraged to engage with the Field to Future process by reviewing the material and submitting their feedback via the form available here.
