With all the talk about improving beef quality one company has put its money where its mouth is and developed a branded beef program that has run successfully for three years.
The Original Alberta Beef program created by Calgary-based packer XL Foods suggests if somebody takes a chance with a new system to improve beef quality there are rewards.
“Everyone said you couldn’t brand beef. We’ve proved them wrong. You can brand beef. It’s what the consumer is asking for,” said Ken Weir, who manages the program for XL.
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The beef is sold in Calgary Co-op grocery stores and restaurants including Hy’s Steak House and the CP hotel chain. A deal was recently signed to sell the product in Quebec. The meat comes with a money-back guarantee of satisfaction.
“We certainly believe in our minds for the past three years it was going to take a packer to lead the charge on quality and really bite the bullet,” said Weir.
The company has strict criteria that demands specific muscle conformation, narrow weight ranges and high standards for the cattle raised in 18 Alberta feedlots approved by XL.
The company also dictates how cattle are handled. It wants to minimize stress because rough handling reduces meat quality.
Cattle producers who meet all criteria are paid a 10 percent premium over market value. Money is deducted for flaws like brands, injection site blemishes or bruises.
Canadian cattle producers have nailed down production techniques like growth rate and calving ease and now it’s time to work on meat quality, said Weir.
XL’s program provides a trace-back program with results from the packing house floor. Producers can check their own herds to see which bloodlines provide the best meat and then replace undesirable bulls with a different genetic base.
The program is not breed specific. However, the Canadian Charolais Association recently approached XL and asked if it could join the program. The information gained from the packer will be used to improve the breed.
Calgary Charolais breeder John Rudiger sees the alliance as an ongoing program that could link with XL’s Original Alberta Beef.
Tracking an animal from the time it’s born to slaughter is critical information for a breed to improve performance and quality.
“The missing link that we haven’t been able to do before is to carry it through the packing plant and on to the consumer. Most packing plants don’t want to give that information out,” he said.
Rudiger said that’s because packers want to know where good cattle are coming from without having to pay more for them.
As part of the agreement, producers must use registered Charolais bulls from a herd that is signed onto the association’s performance measurement programs. This identifies the bulls’ mothers and provides a history of vaccinations and injections.
Traced by microchip
A microchip in the outer edge of the animal’s ear is read by a special receiver developed by XL. This follows the animal from slaughter to the cutting room floor, said Rudiger.
Every animal is tracked for performance, cutability, yield and grade.
The Canadian Hereford Association is in the early planning stages of a branded beef program that is expected to be patterned after Certified Hereford Beef designed by the American Hereford Association.
Canadian Hereford Association marketing manager Jacques DeCorby said his group is looking for a partner to make a Canadian version feasible.
Besides selling branded beef products, it also wants a program that gives carcass information to producers so they can examine how their particular program is working.
Several years ago the association sponsored a Hereford beef sales program through Canada Safeway stores in Alberta.
The program ran a short time and received good reviews, said DeCorby.
