Harry Balzer, chief industry analyst and vice president at The NPD Group, is slated to speak at the National Chicken Council’s July 20-22 Marketing Seminar, held in cooperation with the National Poultry & Food Distributors Association. This summer’s seminar will be held at the Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation, Greensboro, Georgia, approximately 75 miles east of the Atlanta airport.

Not many people in the United States have followed America’s actual eating patterns as long as Harry Balzer has and he is widely known within the industry as a consistent source for information on actual consumer eating habits–not just what they stay they are doing, but what they really do!   Balzer is the author of the NPD Group’s Annual Report on Eating Patterns in America, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2010.  The NPD Group  has been measuring product movement and consumer behavior for more than 40 years and delivers reliable, comprehensive sales and marketing information to help management across an organization make better business decisions.

Balzer has received recognition from Self Magazine for being one of 25 people in the United States who has changed the way the nation eats, cooks, and thinks about food.  He has made numerous television appearances including on “Today,” “Good Morning America,”  and “NBC Nightly News,” as well as CNN and CNBC.  He has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, Fortune, Forbes, and Time.

On line registration is now open for NCC’s July meeting, To register, for more  information about the seminar, a preliminary agenda, transportation, and how to make hotel reservations, visit www.chickenmarketingseminar.org. Each meeting participant must register separately online using their unique username (your company email address on file with NCC) and NCC password.  If you do not know your password, you can recover your password on file with NCC as you start the registration process.

The two-day seminar explores trends in food marketing, consumer purchasing behavior, and new products to help you better succeed in today’s competitive marketplace. Analysts also provide forecasts for chicken and competing meats and the annual supermarket-foodservice round table gives chicken marketers the opportunity to hear directly from their customers. The seminar also incorporates a number of relaxed networking opportunities, including a golf tournament, all in a beautiful lake-front setting.

For questions about the seminar, contact Maggie Ernst, NCC’s senior director of meetings and member services at [email protected].