Opportunity has come knocking at two Alberta meat companies and it sounds a lot like Wal-Mart.
The retail giant has asked Paradise Valley Free Range Pork of Paradise Valley, Alta., and Diamond Willow Organic Beef of Pincher Creek, Alta., to supply meat for the newly opened Wal-Mart super centres in Pincher Creek, Wainwright, Vegreville, Leth-bridge and Edmonton.
Besides the traditional inventory of department store dry goods, the new stores also include a grocery section featuring a full range of organic, locally produced food.
“You have to take a breath when you hear Wal-Mart wants to buy your pigs,” said Delmar Sunderland, who sells pork from pigs raised outdoors on the family farm near Paradise Valley, Alta.
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“It’s a pretty big chain.”
Together with his father and brother, Sunderland developed the Paradise Valley Free Range Pork label about two years ago, marketing through Britco Pork Inc. at Langley, B.C. Meat distribution is handled through the parent company, Donald’s Fine Foods.
The family has raised hogs outdoors for three generations, although it has also run a separate operation mulitplying breeding stock for PIC.
The Sunderlands ship 460 market ready hogs to Donald’s Fine Foods each week and the pork has been sold in the Vancouver Chinatown market.
Wal-Mart has reported good sales after less than a month offering fresh meat at its five stores.
“It must be good because they have been asking for more,” Sunderland said. “If the demand is there, we’ll ship more of those kind of pigs. Consumers seem to want an alternative way of raising pigs.”
Keith Everts of Diamond Willow Beef in southwestern Alberta had a similar experience.
Wal-Mart approached the company to supply locally produced organic beef and it was able to provide case ready fresh product.
Diamond Willow already supplies the Overwaitea food store chain in British Columbia but after 11 years the seven families involved in the company found it hard to establish an Alberta presence.
Everts said Wal-Mart broadens Diamond Willow’s customer base and gives consumers more choice if they are looking for branded, organic beef.
