By Cat Holmes
University of Georgia
The 18th annual
J.W. Fanning Lecture will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 11 at the
Georgia Center
for Continuing Education on the University of Georgia campus
in Athens.
Eric J. Joiner, president, COO and co-founder of AJC
International, a global
frozen food distribution company, will be the featured
speaker. Joiner, who
received his MBA from Georgia State University, will speak on
the “Dynamics
of the Global Poultry Market.”
A world authority on poultry
“The greatest potential for future growth of the poultry
market lies in other
countries,” said Mike Lacy, poultry scientist at UGA. “Eric
Joiner is the former
chairman of the U.S. Poultry and Egg Export Council and is a
member of the board
of directors. He is one of the world’s authorities on U.S.
poultry exports.”
Georgia is the top-producing poultry state in the country and
economists estimate
the total economic impact of poultry in the state to be over
$13 billion annually.
The topic should be of interest to anyone interested in
Georgia’s economy, particularly
those interested in poultry, export business or international
trade, said Fred
White, an agricultural economist with UGA’s College of
Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences.
“There is a lot happening now with international trade in
poultry,” White said.
“Recent trade disputes with Russia have been resolved. We are
just opening up
the Cuban market. And international trade negotiations are
beginning with the
World Trade Organization.”
AJC International was founded in Atlanta in 1972 by Joiner and
Gerald Allison.
They began with a staff of four at a time when American
suppliers focused primarily
on their best market – the U.S.
One of the largest food distributors
In the last thirty years, AJC International
has grown with the
world economy,
evolving its original customer base in Puerto Rico to one that
encompasses the
globe. Today the company maintains its corporate office in
Atlanta and foreign
offices in the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Hong Kong, Argentina
and China.
The
company is now one of
the world’s largest food distribution services, marketing
poultry, pork, red
meat, seafood, vegetables and fruits to North and South
America, Europe and
Asia. Consumers will recognize AJC International’s products
under the Amerifoods,
Early Dawn, Frosty Acres, Garden Maid, Golden Phoenix, Grande,
and Mity Fresh
brand names.
The J.W.
Fanning Lecture Series
is sponsored by the Agricultural Economics Association of
Georgia, the departments
of Agricultural & Applied Economics and Poultry Science at
UGA and the Office
of International Public Service and Outreach at UGA.
The lecture series is named in honor of Dr. J.W. Fanning, former
vice president
for services and professor of agricultural and applied economics
at UGA. Fanning
was instrumental in developing public service and outreach at
UGA.
The lecture will begin at 10:30 a.m. in Rooms K/L of the Georgia
Center for Continuing
Education in Athens on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2002. Registration
and a reception
will begin at 10:00 a.m. on the 2nd floor concourse.
A luncheon and awards ceremony will follow at noon in the
banquet area of the
Georgia Center. Gaylord Coan, a distinguished alumnus of UGA’s
Agricultural and
Applied Economics Department, will be presented the CAES Alumni
Association 2002
Award of Excellence. For more information call (706)542-2481.
