Alberta Lamb Producers is once again embarking on a promotional campaign designed to encourage purchase of its product.
It’s a reprise for the ALP, which successfully promoted lamb during a campaign in the early 2000s before focusing most of its attention on in-creasing the number of producers to meet demand for lamb supply.
“Our new objective is, we want to build consumer awareness and increase the access to Alberta lamb,” said ALP Zone 1 director Tony Legault during an Oct. 18 producer meeting in Lethbridge.
Canada produces 42 percent of national lamb demand, and figures within Alberta are similar, said Legault, who raises sheep near Nanton.
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About 48,000 Alberta-raised lambs are consumed annually in the province, yet many consumers aren’t aware of where that lamb originates.
As well, those 48,000 don’t meet the demand, the rest of which is filled by imported product.
“My belief is that we need that promotion,” he said.
“Even if you are under-supplied, you still need to have promotion there for the people that are supplying. They need to have comfort in knowing that somebody’s working to sell their product.”
Zone 2 director Jeremy Honeysett of Coaldale said the new promotion will be balanced with emphasis on encouraging new lamb producers and supporting existing ones.
“It’s difficult to do both, but now we’re going to try and do both. It’s early days, but we’re really going to try.”
Ideally, production and consumption would increase to the point where imported lamb isn’t needed, said Honeysett, but for now imports serve an important purpose.
“We never like imports, but we can’t fill the market ourselves. Without the imports, nobody would be eating lamb because they can’t get hold of it.”
Legault told producers there is major potential to increase domestic lamb consumption. If the provincial promotion is successful, its tide could lift all boats.
“Once that happens, we’ll all group together, we’ll all be Canadian lamb and we’ll fight the imports.”
He also encouraged producers to maintain the quality of their product to capitalize on consumer surveys that have found a willingness to pay more for locally produced meat.
“You might get the first bite because it’s local, but you’re going to get the second, third and fourth bite because it’s darn good.”
Plans for the promotion will be discussed at ALP zone meetings, which are now underway.
