The Rural Voice, 2006-09, Page 43WAVING
THE FLAG
The Canadian beef
industrg has been
transformed in past
five gears to the point
restaurants want it
known theg serve
Canadian beef
By Jeffrey Carter
Canadian consumers have a
nationalistic streak. It's
something Canada's beef
farmers learned in the wake of the
BSE crisis when Canadians actually
increased their consumption of beef —
despite the spectre of "Mad Cow."
That higher consumption pattern
has since tapered off. Yet, there's
another development that may prove
more lasting. Rob Giguere, the
director of food service marketing at
the Beef Improvement Centre, an
organization sponsored by the
Canadian Cattlemen's Association,
says Canadian beef now holds close
to 90 per cent of the market share in
this country, up from less than 70 per
cent.
Cara Foods is part of that trend,
enthusiastically waving the Canadian
red and white. The web sites for
some of Cara's restaurant chains —
including Montana's Cookhouse,
Milestone's Bar & Grill and Kelsey's
— advertise 100 per cent Canadian
steaks and burgers.
It was not always so, Giguere says.
Cara Foods used to rely on a lot of
New Zealand beef prior to the U.S.
closing its border to Canadian beef
imports in 2003.
"They bought New Zealand beef
for 25 years. The BSE crisis brought
a lot of attention to the beef industry
and so they took a serious look at
Canadian beef. They've switched all
their restaurants to Triple A,"
40 THE RURAL VOICE
Different restaurant chains have different approaches toward using Canadian
beef. The goal at The Keg is to serve high-quality steaks on a consistent
basis. While the company focuses on Canadian beef, occasional shortfalls in
specified cuts mean they sometimes purchase steak from U.S. sources, they
say.
Giguere says.
"I think, definitely, since BSE, a
lot of people have wanted to support
local farmers and Canadian beef."
Giguere says Canadians have also
become better informed about the
product, with a focus on quality as
well as price.
"I think people are emphasizing
quality, more and more. That's
reflected in the grading. There's
never been a stronger market for
Triple A beef and there's never been
more of it produced."
Moving beef through the Canadian
restaurants, however, isn't
necessarily dependent on waving the
Canadian flag. In fact, one of the
biggest names associated with steaks
in Canada — The Keg — makes no
reference to Canadian content on its
menus.
That's not because the chain, with
its 78 Canadian locations, doesn't
The BSE crisis turned Canadian consumers into nationalists about beef.
o supplied by The Keg)