3. DELIVER ORGANIC GROWTH Outstanding consumer food companies deliver strong rates of organic growth, powered by great brands and a constant flow of innovative new products. We have launched important initiatives to accelerate growth that are transforming our culture and approach to the market. First, we commissioned ThinkFOOD!, a $12 million food innovation centre. ThinkFOOD! brings together our product development teams and customers in a world-class facility that includes retail and food service product development kitchens, demonstration areas, sensory labs and training facilities. In its first nine months of operation we hosted over 65 customer sessions at ThinkFOOD!, delivered over one dozen training workshops and ideation sessions with our people and supported the launch of over 40 new products.

To fuel innovation we are escalating our global intelligence activities by identifying new products and categories that can be rapidly adapted to our home markets. Powerful consumer trends such as health and wellness, demographic shifts, and convenience are driving higher levels of growth. In 2010, we will be launching a variety of exciting new products and programs that build our leadership in these and other areas.

Also last year, working with senior sales leaders across the company, we moved from planning to implementation of a new framework for developing deeper, more strategic customer relationships. Maple Leaf’s scale, market knowledge and product diversity are tremendous assets that can deliver major benefits to our customers. We are harnessing these assets more effectively by developing heightened understanding of our customer strategies and better mobilizing our people, plants and financial resources to support their business goals. For Maple Leaf, developing more strategic, less transactional customer relationships means efficient utilization of our resources, which in turn drives sales and margin growth.

4. BUILD WORLD-CLASS FUNCTIONAL LEADERSHIP
In addition to our business strategies, we are formatively changing the structure of Maple Leaf by moving from a number of independently operated businesses to a more integrated organizational model. We are establishing strong functional leadership that brings global best practices to functions that are common across our businesses, including food safety, logistics, manufacturing, marketing, finance, human resources and Six Sigma. Some are already in place, while others are new to the organization.

We made significant progress in 2009, beginning with the appointment of Dr. Randall Huffman as our new Chief Food Safety Officer. One of the foremost food safety experts in North America, Randy is leading our commitment to becoming a global food safety leader. William Kaldis later joined us in the new role of Vice-President, Logistics. Bill has over 20 years experience leading supply and manufacturing networks, applying technologies and expertise to increase efficiencies and reduce costs. In early 2010, Stephen Graham joined Maple Leaf as our Chief Marketing Officer. Stephen has international experience transforming companies into customer driven, growth focused organizations. This role is critical to driving our growth agenda.