100 MILE HOUSE, B.C. – Starting next year Canadian beef and genetic packages will be branded with a new logo.
The Canadian Beef Advantage campaign is being tested in the market as part of a larger strategy to reposition the industry, said John Gillespie, the new chair of the Beef Information Centre.
Recovery of the industry is coming in small steps after five years of difficulty from BSE trade embargoes and high costs. The biggest coup came this year when Tim Hortons introduced a slow roast beef sandwich to its menu.
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“We felt for several years that Tim Hortons was lacking a beef sandwich,” he said June 13 at the British Columbia Cattlemen’s Association annual meeting in 100 Mile House.
It took two years to develop the product using 100 percent Canadian beef because the corporation prefers to guard its promotion and new menu plans.
The McDonald’s Angus burger is another new product that is being promoted.
Canadians continue to eat beef but Canada’s share of the domestic market fell to 80 percent from 85 percent because more was exported, mostly to the United States.
Ontario retailers tend to import U.S. Select grade because consumers prefer the leaner grade. They offer large sales of featured beef products and need particular cuts to fill the meat counters labelled as Canada A or US select. Those lean cuts are easily available from the U.S.
“The price is generally so good on the Select grade the chain stores can’t turn it down,” Gillespie said.
“When you look at the tonnage they want to feature, they have to draw from American supplies to do something like that,” he said.
