The rustic image of tasty Alberta beef produced by real cowboys was the industry’s saviour this summer.
When other countries discovered bovine spongiform encephalopathy in their cattle, beef consumption hit the basement. Canada went the opposite direction with barbecue rallies, restaurants serving up Canadian beef and donations pouring in to keep the industry strong.
Alberta Beef Producers food service manager Drew DePatie started work with the organization two weeks before BSE was announced on May 20.
He and association staff, along with the Beef Information Centre, were able to help raise beef consumption by 30 percent. That translates into Canadians eating 1.5 extra beef-based meals per week.
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During the early days of the crisis, they sent 65,000 information sheets on the Canadian beef system to food wholesalers in the province.
Their next target was fast food restaurants, with Dairy Queen coming on side first with a promise to use domestic product and an advertising campaign titled “100 % Canadian Eh.”
McDonald’s Restaurants was next with a promotion offering a buy one, get one burger free. The company sold 635,000 kg of ground beef in the one-day campaign.
“We realize there is good value in these quick service restaurants utilizing the ground beef,” DePatie told the beef producers annual meeting in Calgary Dec. 10.
Other chains such as A & W, Pizza Hut and Wendy’s joined soon after.
Big Rock Brewery in Calgary formed partnerships with pubs to serve Canadian beef and for every case of Grasshopper brand beer sold this summer, the company donated $1. Big Rock ended up giving $60,000 to the beef producers for further promotions.
DePatie worked with an array of restaurants to add Canadian beef to the menu and encourage use of different cuts over traditional fancy steaks.
The work has not stopped, because there remains a surplus of ground beef, secondary cuts and meat from mature animals older than 30 months.
Between Oct. 1 and Nov. 12, the ABP organized the first Alberta Beef hotel culinary challenge, with 48 hotels participating.
It was also present at the Rocky Mountain Food and Wine Show in Calgary and Edmonton. More than 24,000 people attended the two shows in November.
Beef promotions were held at football games and country fairs and the Canadian Finals Rodeo sold 1,500 pounds of beef in a four-day promotion.
The association also moved into Ontario and Quebec, where Alberta beef is popular. About 20 percent of Alberta beef moves to Quebec and through a special restaurant promotion, 27,242 lb. of beef were sold during a wine and beef promotion.
Most recently, Alberta Agriculture provided $1.8 million to help with continuing promotion plans for a mailout of 1.9 million postcards to Albertans after Christmas thanking them for supporting the cattle industry. Each card includes a ground beef recipe.
