Unavailable beef in Alberta?

[wd40]

I chastized the local store manager, and their HO for show casing this beef via email. This was their response. I assured them that we could find what they are looking for. Can anyone tell me were to look?

Dear Mr. xxxx,

Thank you for taking the time to email us.

I would like to assure you that we are absolutely committed to supporting Canadian farmers and manufacturers. In fact, it is our primary goal to carry meat and produce from local farmers. The product to which you refer in your email is our new President's Choice Free From Beef, which is indeed sourced from Montana. The animals are raised in the Black Creek river valley without the use of antibiotics and hormones. The challenge is that at the current time there are no existing suppliers of antibiotic and hormone free beef in Canada that can meet our President's Choice requirements and provide adequate supply of beef. However, it is definitely our intention to bring on Canadian supply as the program expands.

Mr. Ratzlaff, thank you again for sharing your feedback with us, as it is one of the best ways for us to improve. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again with any further comments or questions you may have.

Sincerely,



Julie Dunham
Sr. Customer Relations Representative
Loblaw Companies Limited

[grassfarmer]

WD40 - What an opportunity, I'm sure rkaiser will already be in touch with the guy as we speak. Bern Kotelko at Highland already has the protocols set up for this type of beef and would be worth a call to see if he had supply. Unfortunately most of our supply chain has been brought up on the idea that no-one is interested in this type of product as our best market is the US for hormone and antibiotic treated commodity beef.
Of course we still have the nitty gritty to deal with - how much would they pay for this superior product and where can we get it killed? Still it's encouraging to see demand like this - I know we are seeing considerably higher demand for our own hormone and antibiotic free grass-fed beef this year. I think we are riding on the crest of a wave and the demand for these products will become huge in the next few years.

[per]

WD, as well you could contact Canada Gold, that is part of the their first run protocol.

[wd40]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that killed and packaged in Alberta, and sold in Alberta only needs Provincialy Inspected facilities. Right?

[per]

That is my understanding

[vagabonddreamer]

surely we must be appalled as producers that the store in question did not dig a little deeper with respect to supply management...before they went south of the border for their product...

this REALLY pisses me off..given the cool thing in the US....vs

[grassfarmer]

I take your point about provincial plants wd40 but in reality how many of them are there that would be set up to handle a reasonable volume of kill for a retailer like Loblaw? Canadian Premium Meats at Lacombe for one but who else? It seems to me we do still lack alternate processing capacity. What happens if a retailer wants to handle a niche line of beef products like this and the "big two" don't like it? Do they get threatened that unless they quit buying the niche product they won't get supplied with the regular beef from Brooks or High River? None of these problems have been resolved as far as I can see - perhaps it is easier for the retailer to buy US product for some of these reasons?

[wd40]

Seems to me that if the govt. assists NB to buy the plant in Brooks with Tax payers money, they should be required to play ball with producers here.

[SimplyCanadian]

The unavailable beef in Alberta has been 10 years plus in the making. Every beef producer in North America had the heads up that this segment of the food industry was showing the fastest growth rates of any food product on the shelf! Rather than work on putting the infrastructure together as a Team Canada Farm Community, everyone choose to let it become another one of those minor segments of the diversified food industry. This is so typical of the Canadian Agriculture industry it is painful to watch.
With the beef side of things, everyone knew that Cargill and Lakeside would never consider this specialty product, yet when there were groups trying to put together "REAL CANADIAN" processing plants to ensure we had these ..... (what are you going to call them side markets, specialty markets whatever) everyone ducked and complained and found the negative in what was being proposed. We couldn't get enough Gonads from across the country to insist the Governments Federal and Provincial direct funds into a real foundation and cross Canada interdependent supply/marketing chain.
Well, it doesn't matter if you agree with me or not, makes no difference to me now! I can sit back and watch the brilliant light burn, as the Pork Industry now suffers from an export melt down, as the beef industry did, as the diversified livestock industry has, and now the surprise that we have no processing for "Yes" the fastest growing segment of the food industry.
Loblaws, Walwart, Save-on and sobeys all sell more before noon in their meat departments than any of our provincial plants could supply .... especially under the strict specifications required for the products you are now interested in.
Now I'm sure all the ag experts will come out with wisdom and direction, yes the same ones that got you were you are today. I may actually follow this to see how trashed my statement of fact gets. Enjoy

[wd40]

In December 2008 a corporate decision was made to offer a beef program that was “Free from antibiotics, hormones and no animal by products in the feed”. Enquiries made with Canadian processors indicated that there where a limited number of cattle in Canada that could be accessed by the end of March 2009. Since Loblaw Companies Limited was planning to launch a national program a review of availability of cattle in the US indicated that there where sufficient cattle available to cover requirements.

At this time we are not looking for any additional supply. We may be able to review requirements in a few months after a decision is made if the program meets customer and sales expectations.

Sincerely,


Julie Dunham
Sr. Customer Relations Representative
Loblaw Companies Limited

[perfecho]

Agree totally, Simply. We helped create the situation we are in, with lack of organizing, trusting our "leaders" to back us into a corner and not educating the public. Like Ralp said, "We'll take care of the farmers,"......he just didn't clarify what "take care of" meant.
Still haven't given up on trying to find the right mix of people to take back the Acheson plant from the AB gov and having it has the processing point for local, ethically raised (no implants included)beef. Will stop when the wall breaks or my head falls off froming banging!

[Sawbones]

Perfecho..It looks like the equipment at Acheson is gone. Rumor has it that Nilsson has the inside track so if that displeases you, let AFSC know ASAP what you think.
Simply Canadian ..I like your attitude and if there's still an opportunity, let's make it happen
A quote from a wise person in the beef sector "There's more honor in dying on the hill fighting than cowering in the trenches starving"
contact us at
www.canadianlegacypartners.com

[perfecho]

Thanks for the heads up SB. It doesn't surprise me, they will want to bury this quickly and the majors will do their share in making sure it can't go forward.
It really is frustrating that our Gov is so tied to the majors and we are so brainwashed that our Gov will lead us down the right path.
Good luck with your endeavors.