MONTAGUE, P.E.I. – Maritime beef producers and Co-op Atlantic are
planning to build a federally inspected slaughter plant to support the
region’s branded beef program.
It would be the first large slaughter plant to be built in Canada since
the late 1980s.
Producers have been without a plant since Aug. 1, when Hub Meat Packers
Ltd. in Moncton, N.B., closed its doors after nearly 40 years of
service. Cattle are now being shipped to Better Beef in Guelph, Ont.
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Joan Perrin, brand manager for Atlantic Branded Beef Management Inc.,
said shipping cattle that far will result in more dark cutters and
could hurt the brand.
The Atlantic Tender Beef Classic grilling steak won best new private
label perishable product in the Canadian Grand Prix last May.
Perrin said surveys have found that as many as 88 percent of
respondents would prefer to buy locally grown beef.
“We have more consumers than producers,” Perrin said of the region. “We
want to produce it here, kill it here and market it here. The key is we
have a retailer tied right into the packing plant.”
Co-op Atlantic has 104 stores and many rural members. It has been
retailing Atlantic Tender Beef Classic since its debut.
“They want to do something for the farmer who is their member and
supports them,” Perrin said.
At meetings throughout the Maritimes in August, producers agreed that a
processing plant owned in conjunction with Co-op Atlantic is their best
option for a successful brand.
Perrin said the plant will be small, killing about 500 animals a week.
“But it would be built for the brand and that’s where it would be
effective.”
An incorporated company will own and operate the plant. Beef producers
will own half the company through a new generation co-op, while Co-op
Atlantic will own the other half. Each co-op member will get one vote.
Producers can also invest in the plant by buying “hooks.” One hook
gives the producer the right and requirement to process one animal at
the plant.
This will likely be set for a term of seven to 11 years. Twenty-six
thousand hooks will be sold per year at a one-time price of $60. A
pricing grid will also be established.
The new plant will cost $11.2 million, plus as much as $3 million for
waste treatment.
Dean Baglole, chair of Atlantic Branded Beef Management and a Prince
Edward Island feedlot operator, said ideally government would build the
plant and lease it back to the company or guarantee a loan for a third
party to build it and lease it to the company.
At a New Brunswick meeting of agricultural reporters earlier this
month, provincial agriculture minister Rodney Weston said his
government is working closely with everyone involved. It and the other
Maritime provinces helped fund the feasibility study. He did not commit
money to a plant.
