"Summer Festival of the Society for the Promotion of Labour of the Parliamentary Group for the Middle Classes (PKM)” of the CDU/CSU Bundestag Parliamentary Group may sound a bit unwieldy, but it is traditionally one of the highlights of Berlin's annual political summer. Medium-sized businesses, as well as representatives of trade associations and journalists, used the event to network with union deputies in the Bundestag, as well as a wide range of industry representatives and experts. Our colleague Paul Daum (Head of Strategy Livestock Purchasing) represented the company in Berlin.

"These types of events are important for us! They are allowing Vion to build up a network here," explained Paul Daum, at the end of an evening with numerous interesting talks and meetings. "From animal welfare, to animal husbandry levels and sustainable supply chains – these events give us the opportunity to foster and maintain contact with politicians and trade representatives, who we meet with regularly at Vion."

As a result, Paul Daum used the event to talk to Bernhard Krüsken (General Secreary of the German Farmers' Association [Deutscher Bauerverband]) and Stefanie Sabet (Managing Director of the Federation of German Food and Drink Industries [Bundesvereinigung der deutschen Ernährungsindustrie]) about current issues in agriculture and the meat industry, including animal welfare and husbandry levels.

At the event 220 kg of the finest neck steaks from Vion's plant in Emstek were available from the grill. These were well received by guests such as the CDU party leader Friedrich Merz, and prominent deputies such as Julia Klöckner, Alexander Dobrinth, Jens Spahn and Andreas Scheuer. One thing is already clear: Vion will definitely be attending the event again next year.

​​​​