SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. – Canadians ate the same amount of beef last year as they did the year before, but they ate less pork and chicken, Saskatchewan beef producers were told recently.
Carolyn McDonell, executive manager of the Beef Information Centre, said beef consumption held steady at 22.72 kilograms per person last year.
Pork consumption dropped .5 kg to 20.84 kg per person, while chicken consumption dropped .1 kg to 24.8 kg per person. Beef and pork consumption are calculated on a retail basis, which is the cut-up carcass sold in stores. Chicken consumption is based on carcass weight, which includes all the bones.
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McDonell said the percentage of imported beef eaten by Canadians decreased from 30.5 to 27 percent. At the same time, the country’s population increased by 300,000 people, so Canadians actually ate a lot more beef produced at home, she said.
“Last year, 85 million more pounds of Canadian beef were consumed in Canada,” she said. That’s the same as 112,000 head of cattle.
McDonell said nearly 60 percent of the beef sold in Canada is sold on feature, or special, and that is expected to continue.
Pork prices are high due to export volumes, chicken prices are high due to feed costs, and there is a large supply of beef.
“We’re going to see beef featured a lot this summer,” she said.
