KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Canadians are not eating enough meat and the Beef Information Centre wants to do something about it.
Studies have told them half of the population doesn’t eat the Canada food guide-recommended two to three servings of meat each day. Further research showed 60 percent of women are not eating the recommended servings, said Pat Scarlett, of the information centre, at the British Columbia Cattlemen’s Association convention held here May 28-29.
Per capita meat consumption has not changed much in Canada since 1970.
“The big difference is that red meat consumption has declined while chicken consumption has increased,” said Scarlett.
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If beef is to regain half of the market share it has lost, that would account for more than 200 million pounds of beef or 500,000 head of cattle. Each Canadian eats about 50 lb. of beef per year.
The beef centre is spending $8.6 million a year on product development and promotions. Of that, $5.9 million is collected through checkoffs submitted by the provincial cattle producers’ organizations with the remainder coming from beef industry development funds.
Yet it continues to lose buying power when doing media promotions.
Advertising costs $3.2 million annually but the centre can only buy half of what it could seven years ago. It can only afford to hit six markets at a time for a third of the year.
Also hurting beef is a decline in hamburger sales in restaurants. Real disposable income has declined, so people spend less on these kinds of meals. In addition, the largest ground meat recall in history last year due to E. coli contamination convinced many people to stay away from hamburger.
The centre has an objective to increase beef consumption by three percent by 2000.
There are several strategies to achieve this.
More value-added products are coming on the market, especially frozen entrŽes and meal kits using beef. Meal kits include all ingredients for a meal while the cook adds the beef.
There is also a growing market supplying beef for ethnic communities. In B.C.’s Lower Mainland the beef centre worked with seven retail outlets that cater to the Asian population. It also developed a cooking demonstration program for the Chinese community that offered brochures, ads and recipe cards in Chinese. These were distributed at grocery stores.
The centre is working on beef promotions with restaurants like Mr. Mike’s, ABC Family Restaurants and The Keg, said Susan Evans, a nutritionist with the centre.
The organization is also trying to increase sales of hips and chucks, which account for 53 percent of the beef carcass. Marinade sachets are included in each beef package, as well as instructions on how to cook these less-tender cuts. The marinades work in 10 minutes rather than two hours, said Evans.
The beef industry has revised the naming of beef cuts, which identify how pieces should be cooked rather than what part of the anatomy they come from. Cooking instructions are included on each package.
