Canadian Lamb Producers Cooperative will welcome outside investors as it raises money for the project
STEINBACH, Man. — There is a type of processed meat missing from grocery store shelves, and a farmers’ co-operative plans to fill that space with a product missing a letter.
LAM: “Lamb without the ‘B,’ ” a product made with 100 percent Canadian lamb products, is expected to come out in limited quantities in November.
If that succeeds, and Canadian farmers produce enough quality lambs, LAM should become available in big Canadian grocery chains and in the U.S., its promoters say.
All the Canadian Lamb Producers Cooperative needs is a couple of million dollars.
“We’re in. We’re the guys,” said Terry Ackerman, chief executive officer of the CLPC, during a presentation to southeastern Manitoba sheep farmers Aug. 26.
“You will own a brand.”
Ackerman sounded confident about raising the money, which will be used as operating capital for the Canadian Lamb Company to buy lambs, process them and distribute the LAM products through the retail system.
Members of the CLPC can invest in the lamb company, which is owned by the CLPC, and outside investors are being offered “preference shares,” which are similar to preferred shares. The CLPC will retain ownership control of the Canadian Lamb Company.
The CLPC has already invested $4.5 million in the elements that will make LAM a market-leading product, Ackerman said, including an electronic traceability system, a quality assessment system, marketing research, meat product formulation and testing, and trademark development.
The night Ackerman spoke in Steinbach he was still glowing from the news that the American trademark process for LAM was proceeding, ironing out one of the last practical wrinkles before LAM burgers, kebabs and sausages can hit the market.
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LAM products are frozen, quick preparation meats designed for North America’s burgeoning urban lamb-loving population. Ackerman said in the Toronto area alone, 35,000 lamb-eating immigrants arrive every year, but find few lamb products.
Fresh Canadian lamb is hard to find, and processed foods are virtually non-existent.
That’s the consumer demand LAM is designed to fill, Ackerman said.
“The consumer demand is unrelenting,” said Ackerman.
The CLPC is an odd duck, being a federally organized co-operative rather than a provincial one, with members operating in seven provinces.
While the Canadian Lamb Company will be producing and marketing processed lamb goods, it will slaughter none of the lambs, process none of the meat, and package and distribute nothing itself. All those practical operations will be done by commercial entities that specialize in that kind of production.
“We outsource everything,” said Ackerman.
The CLPC buys lambs from share holding members, with members required to buy at least 25 shares when entering the co-op. Each share gives the member the right to deliver one lamb per year to the co-op.
While the CLPC wants to increase its purchases of lambs from members, it restricts members to a maximum of 75 percent of their lamb production to be delivered to the co-op.
“We function as an alternative to existing buyers,” said Ackerman.
“We’re one option.”
One reason the co-op doesn’t want 100 percent of a farmer’s production is that it wants the best quality lambs he has. It doesn’t want every lamb no matter the quality.
Ackerman said LAM boosts lamb producers one rung higher up the value chain, and it’s also a chance to launch something unique into a growing market.
“The word is (that) no-one’s got this,” said Ackerman.
Contact ed.white@producer.com
