An Earl’s restaurant official says customers also ask how the animal was raised and if it is antibiotic and steroid free
More than one-third of the Certified Angus Beef consumed in Canada is imported from the United States.
Canadians ate 41 million pounds of the branded beef last year, but the country’s industry produced less than 25 million lb.
Larry Corah, vice-president of the Ohio-based Canadian Angus Beef program, said the shortfall in Canadian Angus beef is a headache for Canadian restaurants.
“Canadians consumers … given a choice, they want to eat Canadian product,” he said.
“We hear that a lot in the western provincial areas: Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. We’re constantly having restaurants say, ‘we want to serve Manitoban or Saskatchewan … or Canadian (beef).”
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Cate Simpson, communications manager for Earl’s, said the company’s restaurants serve primarily Canadian beef. The percentage of American Certified Angus Beef could be as high as 15 percent, depending on the time of year and product availability.
Simpson said Spring Creek, an Alberta ranch specializing in beef raised without antibiotics or added hormones, supplies Certified Angus Beef to seven of Earl’s 66 restaurants.
“We’d love to have them supply all of our restaurants, but they just can’t,” Simpson said.
She said customer interaction with Earl’s servers indicates that how beef is produced may be more important than where it’s produced.
“It’s purely anecdotal, but when we’re talking to the guests in the restaurant … they always seem to be more interested that it’s antibiotic free, that it’s no added hormones or no added steroids,” Simpson said. “They (customers) seem to feel it’s more important that the beef is sustainable, versus what it’s origin was.”
Earl’s diners also talk about humane treatment of animals.
“In the U.S., we’ve been able to switch all of our beef over to certified humane. We haven’t been able to do that in Canada yet,” Simpson said.
“We’re working towards it…. We have a lot more restaurants in Canada then the U.S.”
A procurement specialist with a food service company in Ontario said some diners may prefer their steak to come from Canada, but Certified Angus Beef is the same quality whether it originates in the U.S. or Canada.
He said Canadian Angus beef is in high demand.
As well, the 75 cent loonie makes Canadian beef relatively cheap, which increases the profit margin on a steak sandwich for food service firms and restaurants.
Jim Panopoulos, director of marketing and procurement at Gordon Food Services, a major supplier to the restaurant trade, said 95 percent of its Certified Angus Beef comes from Canada.
“Do we get American beef in? Sometimes we do because customers are requesting it,” he said.
“Because if they have it on their menu … they have to sell Certified Angus Beef if they’ve got the license.”
Corah said Canada could easily double its production of Certified Angus Beef if slight changes are made to improve beef grades. Slightly more than 21 percent of Canadian Angus met the specifications last year to become Certified Angus Beef.
He said the percentage is on the rise.
“There’s no question we can be producing 50 to 60 million lb. or even higher of Certified Angus Beef in Canada, simply by putting a little more emphasis in the genetic program and marbling,” he said.
Canadian grades are designed to emphasize lower fat marbling than the U.S. system.
