Competition for premium meat Processor says the Vivo brand will include new cuts and introduce products like veal bacon
DRESDEN, Ont. — A Quebec company’s new branding program intends to keep milk-fed veal on the plates of North Americans, but it’s not going to be easy.
Mario Maillet, president of Écolait Ltd., said 90-pound calves are now selling for more than $400. In the past, some farmers didn’t bother marketing their calves when they sold for $125, euthanizing them instead.
“Now there’s a lot of competition to get the male calves,” he said.
“The thing is, it (the high price) is good for farmers of course. On the other hand, it increases the cost of production by $300 an animal.”
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It means consumers are paying even more for what was already considered a premium meat, Maillet said. The cost of production for milk-fed veal animals that finish at 550 lb. is about $1,200, if not more. They dress out at about 320 lb.
Data for finished animals collected by Statistics Canada help confirm Maillet’s numbers.
Milk-fed carcass prices in Quebec have been strong and rising all year. They averaged $363.75 per hundredweight in January and increased to an average of $445.33 in October.
Prices late last month were about $30 higher.
The price for grain-fed veal, which is finished at a higher weight, has also reached record levels, averaging $247.09 per cwt. for the first 10 months of this year and peaking at $324.88 in October.
Écolait is based in Ste. Hyacinth with a slaughter and cutting plant in Montreal, a cutting plant in upstate New York and an alliance with Delft Blue Food Innovations in Ontario. Écolait and Delft Blue are both part of the Grober Group, which is headquartered in Cambridge, Ont.
The Grober Group is involved in production and processing and manufactures milk replacer.
Maillet said products labelled with the Vivo brand will soon be listed in Metro and IGA stores in Quebec. Negotiations are also underway for distribution in Ontario and other provinces.
The company said the Vivo brand will include new cuts and innovative products, such as veal bacon.
Écolait markets 40 percent of its veal in Quebec, which at three kilograms per person is triple the consumption rate of the rest of Canada. Thirty percent goes to the United States, 20 percent to other provinces and the rest overseas to destinations such as Dubai and Japan.
Martin Gooch with Value Chain Management International in Oakville, Ont., who has worked with the veal industry in the past, said a key consideration for businesses such as the Grober Group is to understand what the marketplace wants.
“They have some very clever people at Grober, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re doing it the right way.”
Grober is the largest milk-fed veal value chain in North America.
Eighty percent of Écolait’s veal is milk-fed and the rest is grain-fed.
The company slaughters 1,700 animals a week, of which 1,200 are produced on Quebec farms. The remaining supply is split between Ontario, the Maritimes and the U.S.
Écolait has various arrangements for its supply, including its own production facilities, purchases from privately owned farms, financing arrangements and custom-production arrangements.
Maillet said his company has a good relationship with Union des Producteurs Agricoles and Fédération des Producteurs de bovins du Québec. He said the Assurance stabilization des revenues agricoles program has been important, providing the industry with a better structure by helping cover producer losses in Quebec when prices are low.
Quebec and Ontario produce 95 percent of the veal in Canada. The rest is spread between the Maritimes, Alberta and British Columbia.
There’s a greater emphasis on grain-fed veal in Ontario, with most of the slaughter occurring in provincially inspected processing facilities, according to the Ontario Veal Association. The main market is the greater Toronto area.
Keels said Quebec’s ASRA program has allowed the province to maintain a milk-fed veal industry. Grain fed veal makes more financial sense In Ontario, where 450 producers are in the business, she added.
Keels also said Maillet’s $400-plus figure for bob calves (less than 176 lb. dressed) is accurate, but only for top-end animals, which are usually produced when a Holstein cow is bred to a better muscled meat breed.
