Clones

January/February 2008 

Canadian Food Industry 

2007 Review 

Send in the 

Clones 

FDA OK’s Meat From 

Genetic Copies 

Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement 40854046 

Alberta’s Federal Livestock 

and Meat Research 

meatbusiness.ca 

Guest Editorial: 

Clare Schlegel, 

Canadian Pork Council 

pg.5 

$6.00

Volume 7, Number 1 January/February 2008 

5 Guest Editorial by Clare Schlegel 

6 Send in the Clones by Alan MacKenzie 

8 

8 Expanded Canadian Emphasis at NAMP 

Conference 

10 From Early Pioneers to Current Issues 

by Debbie Lockrey-Wessel 

12 Canadian Food Industry 2007 Review 

by Kevin Grier 

14 Cross Country News 

16 $12 Million Turnaround by Alan MacKenzie 

18 Industry Roundup 

20 Meat-Friendly Weight Loss by Alan MacKenzie 

21 Events Calendar 

22 Ethanol as Public Policy in Canada 

by Al Mussell and Larry Martin 

24 Assembly Line 

20 

27 Business Spotlight 

28 Product Showcase 

30 Meat Industry Business Watch 

by James Sbrolla 

10 

22 


January/February 2008 Canadian Meat Business

| Guest Editorial | 

January/February 2008 Volume 7 Number 1 

PUBLISHER 

Ray Blumenfeld 

ray@meatbusiness.ca 

MANAGING EDITOR 

Alan MacKenzie 

alan@meatbusiness.ca 

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS 

Clare Schlegel, Debbie Lockrey-Wessel, 

Kevin Grier, Al Mussell, Larry Martin, 

James Sbrolla 

ART DIRECTOR & DESIGNER 

Donna Endacott 

DESIGNER 

Correna Saunders 

CIRCULATION/ADMINISTRATION 

Kerry Freek 

kerry@meatbusiness.ca 

FINANCE 

Jane Addie 

Canadian Meat Business is published 

six times a year by We Communications Inc. 

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E-mail: publishing@meatbusiness.ca 

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Why Canadian Pork Producers 

Need Government Support 

As part of a fifth generation 

farming family, I have seen 

many ups and downs in 

agriculture. Particularly in the hog 

business, highs and lows in the average 

four-year price cycle are the norm. 

Nothing, however, could have prepared 

Canadian pork producers for what we 

experienced in 2007. 

Over the past twelve months our 

export-dependent sector has been 

assaulted by “the perfect storm” 

– a combination of a high Canadian 

dollar, skyrocketing feed costs, and low 

market prices for our hogs. 

Our industry was also weakened 

in 2005/06 by disease challenges, 

such as circovirus (PCVAD), for 

which producers had no effective 

tools. Thankfully, excellent vaccines 

have now been developed to combat 

PCVAD. 

The high cost of grain alone 

has caused not only Canadian hog 

producers, but also those in other 

countries – including Australia, New 

Zealand, Britain and France – to 

suffer severe losses. Even the U.S. felt 

the impact of these increased costs. 

This truly is a global reality. 

We are seeing serious challenges in 

hog production worldwide, but Canada 

is particularly vulnerable because of 

the record highs of our dollar (which 

have increased more than 70 per 

cent over four years), thus directly 

affecting our competitiveness with the 

U.S.. Our producers are now faced with 

making extremely difficult business, 

financial and family decisions for their 

farms. 

For months, we have been meeting 

with federal politicians, including 

Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister 

Gerry Ritz, as well as many political 

and bureaucratic staff, to create 

awareness about the plight facing our 

farmers and to look for solutions to get 

us through this crisis. 

We asked for a repayable loan to 

help hog producers transition through 

the difficult coming months, as well as 

improvements to the present suite of 

business risk management programs. 

In order to be competitive within 

the current reality, costs will have to 

be cut dramatically across the supply 

chain. This takes time. Not everyone 

will be able to accomplish this, 

including some of our supply chain 

partners. However, over the long term, 

the Canadian hog sector cannot afford 

to pay more for their inputs than our 

competitors and expect to maintain 

the current production levels. 

In late December, Minister Ritz 

announced “help” for producers in 

the form of currently existing business 

risk management programs. While we 

appreciate this, it will not be enough, 

soon enough for our producers – 

including some of our very best. 

The good news is that, with time, 

markets will adjust to the new cost 

conditions. We are confident that 

Canadian producers will be among the 

most competitive in the world. 

Factors that point to a brighter 

future for Canadian pork sales include 

growth in Chinese pork consumption 

that exceeds China’s ability to increase 

hog production, and positive signs that 

the WTO negotiations will succeed at 

further liberalizing world trade. 

There is no doubt some producers 

will exit the business. Our proposals 

for dealing with the crisis are not 

designed to preserve our industry in 

its current state. Instead, we need to 

provide conditions in which rational 

long-run business decisions can be 

made. We are fighting to avoid the total 

destruction of a viable Canadian pork 

production, processing, distribution 

and exporting value chain. 

But the bottom line is, in order to 

succeed in the future, we need to still 

be in business when things get better 

again for hog production. 

We need the support of the federal 

government right now to see us through 

the tough times we’re facing. We need 

a government that supports farmers. 

We need them to realize the severity of 

our crisis before it’s too late. 

- Clare Schlegel, president, Canadian 

Pork Council 


| Cover Stor y | 

Send in the 

Clones 

The U.S. FDA says eating meat from 

cloned animals is safe. Will Canada be 

next to say ‘copy that’ to cloned food? 

By Alan MacKenzie 

It sounds like science fiction. Some 

call it unnatural. And it may soon 

be on your plate. 

Cloning – the process of using DNA 

technology to create a genetically 

identical copy – was generally 

considered the subject matter of 

outlandish stories until 1996 when 

Scottish scientists gained worldwide 

attention by famously cloning a 

sheep, Dolly. Now, a little over a 

decade later, the U.S. Food and 

Drug Administration (FDA) has 

announced that consuming meat 

and milk from clones of cattle, swine, 

and goats – and their offspring – is 

as safe as from conventionally bred 

animals (interestingly, the FDA said it 

needs more time to come to the same 

conclusion about sheep). 

FDA made its announcement Jan. 15, 

making three documents – a “risk 

assessment,” a “risk management plan” 

and “guidance for industry” – available 

on its website. They were originally 

released in draft form in December 

2006. 

“After reviewing additional data and 

the public comments in the intervening 

year since the release of our draft 

documents on cloning, we conclude 

that meat and milk from cattle, swine, 

and goat clones are as safe as food we 

eat every day,” said Stephen F. Sundlof, 

director of FDA's Center for Food 

Safety and Applied Nutrition. 

The controversial announcement 

was quickly followed by statements 

from leading U.S. meat processors 

– including Smithfield Foods and 

Tyson Foods – that they do not plan 

to produce products from cloned 

animals. U.S. consumer and animal 

protection groups were also quick 

to criticize, noting that the science 

remains insufficient and that many 

consumers are against cloning for 

religious or ethical reasons. 

Although cloning has been approved 

by the FDA, it doesn’t necessarily mean 

it will be widely used to produce food 

in America any time soon. The United 

States Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) undersecretary for marketing 

and regulatory programs, Bruce I. 

Knight stated the department “fully 

supports and agrees with” the FDA's 

findings, but asked for a “voluntary 

moratorium” on letting product from 

cloned animals enter the market, 

noting the domestic agriculture and 

international trade implications of using 

cloned food needs to be studied first. 

But the FDA is not alone in its 

stance. A week prior to its statements, 

the European Food Safety Authority 

released a draft scientific report 

stating, “healthy clones, their offspring 

and products from them do not show 

any significant differences from their 

conventional counterparts.” 

So can Canada be far behind? 

According to Health Canada spokesperson 

Paul Duchesse, there are 

currently no foods from cloned 

animals approved for sale in Canada. 

He noted the release of the FDA 

documents “does not necessarily mean 

there will be a change” in Canada’s 

existing policy towards foods derived 

from clones. 

“While the U.S documents provide 

some important information that 

fills gaps in current knowledge about 

cloned animals, Health Canada must 

still do its own evaluation of new 

information considered by the U.S. FDA 

before a Canadian policy specifically 

related to foods from cloned animals 

can be developed,” Duchesse said. 

“Fundamentally the cloned animal is no different – it’s just 

a copy. There’s nothing sinister in what’s been done to 

its genetic material.” 

- Gary Crow, associate professor, University of Manitoba 

Department of Animal Science. 

“Before a policy on how these 

products will be regulated in Canada 

can be finalized, work must first be done 

to assess all of the science available,” 

he added, noting that Health Canada 

is looking to have a policy in place “as 

soon as possible.” 

He urged that developers wishing 

to produce cloned animals for human 

food withhold submissions to Health 

Canada until scientific requirements 

are determined and the required 

guidance is published. 

Bruce Cran, president of the 

Consumers Association of Canada 

(CAC) said that when the time comes 

for food from clones to make its 

Canadian Meat Business January/February 2008 

meatbusiness.ca

| Cover Stor y | 

way into Canadian grocery stores, 

consumers should have the opportunity 

of choosing whether they want to use 

the product – something that may not 

happen south of the border/(the FDA 

already stated labels will not be required 

on food derived from clones). 

“If they don’t label the food, people 

could stop eating meat altogether 

and become vegetarians,” Cran said. 

“That’s one of the things that’s come 

up in conversations I’ve had in the last 

year on this particular issue. There are 

people who would rather eat no meat 

than think they’re eating cloned meat.” 

He added the CAC has lost a few 

battles for food labelling in recent 

years, particularly for labels on 

genetically modified foods. But, he 

said, the issue of cloning may be 

upsetting to enough people to make 

a difference, noting that concerned 

consumers should contact their local 

member of parliament or the CAC. 

“In the case of genetically modified 

food, the request for labelling was in 

the 90 percentile range on many polls, 

and I would expect cloned animal 

products would be somewhere around 

the same level,” he said. 

But Gary Crow, an associate professor 

with the University of Manitoba’s 

Department of Animal Science, said 

people shouldn’t let sci-fi associations 

with the word “clone” scare them 

off. He said meat from cloned cattle, 

for example, would be the same as 

if it came from the original cow that 

provided the DNA. 

“A cloned animal is not much 

different from an identical twin, in 

the sense that they have equal genetic 

material to some other animal,” he 

said. “Fundamentally the cloned 

animal is no different – it’s just a copy. 

There’s nothing sinister in what’s been 

done to its genetic material.” 

He noted he is not familiar with 

the studies the FDA conducted, but 

said there is nothing in the cloning 

process that would make a genetic 

copy something that shouldn’t be 

consumed. 

“The process, as it stands now, is just 

the insertion of DNA from the sister 

animal into a new embryo and having 

that embryo develop and grow in a 

surrogate mother,” he explained. 

He added, however, that sometimes 

the genes are “expressed differently” in 

clones, resulting in accelerated growth. 

“There’s a pattern of imprinting that 

tells which genes should come in at 

which times,” he said. “Some of that is 

lost in cloned animals.” 

He said this does not change the 

animal’s genetic make-up and doesn’t 

make it any less safe to eat, but admitted 

consumers might still find the idea 

hard to swallow. 

Crow added he doesn’t expect to see 

a huge impact on the meat market in 

the near future. Because of the expense 

“If they don’t label the food, 

people could stop eating meat 

altogether and 

become vegetarians.” 

- Bruce Cran, president, 

Consumers Association 

of Canada. 

of making a cloned animal – some 

reports peg the cost of a cloned cow at 

US$15,000 to US$20,000 – meat from 

genetic copies will not likely be sold to 

consumers, at least not in a large-scale 

way. Instead the animals would be used 

for breeding and their offspring would 

be used in food production. 

Crow said a way in which cloning 

could become an advantage for the 

industry is in the creation of “specialized” 

animals, pointing to Nexia Biotechnologies 

Inc., a Montreal-based 

company that spliced the genes of a 

spider and a goat to create a goat that 

can secrete spider silk through its milk. 

“Once you have this specialized 

animal, cloning can be used to create 

more of them,” he said, noting that, in 

theory, an animal could be created to 

make an especially tender source of 

meat. “That’s where cloning might be 

valuable. But my feeling is that using 

animals that have genes transferred 

from other species isn’t something that 

is going to happen in the short term.” 

How do you feel about meat from cloned 

animals making its way onto store shelves? 

Should the products be labelled? Would 

you eat it? Tell us your opinion. Contact 

alan@meatbusiness.ca. 



North American Meat Processors Association 

Chicago’s historic 

Drake Hotel. 

Expanded 

Canadian 

Emphasis 

NAMP 51st Management Conference 

offers timely E. coli session, greater 

Canadian perspective. 

An increased Canadian focus will be among the 

highlights of the North American Meat Processors 

Association's (NAMP) 51st Management Conference, 

March 28 to 30, at the Drake Hotel in Chicago, Illinois – 

the most ambitious program NAMP has ever put together. 

Always an intense, fact-filled event, the conference has been 

expanded with additional sessions, topics and speakers to fit 

four separate special interest tracks designed to appeal to a 

meat processing company’s entire management team. 

An important and timely session bringing new information 

and perspective on E. coli O157:H7, the industry's rapidly 

changing number one food safety issue, will be aimed at top 

management and quality control experts. 

Featured speakers include the USDA's top policy maker, 

Dr. Dan Engeljohn, and the Canadian Food Inspection 

Agency's (CFIA) Dr. Bill Anderson, who heads its recently 

established E. coli Working Group. 

A blue ribbon roundtable panel features respected experts 

on E. coli, including: 

• Dr. Kerri Harris, associate professor of meat science, Texas 

A & M University, and president & CEO of the International 

HACCP Alliance; 

• Bob Hibbert, partner, Kilpatrick & Lockhart Preston 

Gates Ellis LLP and a USDA regulatory expert attorney; 

• Ann Wells, NAMP director of scientific and regulatory 

affairs; 

• Dr. Jim Marsden, NAMP senior science advisor, Kansas 

State University; 

• Dr. "Reddi" Thippareddi, NAMP science advisor, University 

of Nebraska; 

• Robert de Valk, NAMP Canadian government 

representative. 

The conference also will focus on what slaughterers are 

doing to combat this pathogen before it reaches further 

processors – and how to manage a recall. 

NAMP also will introduce seven noted authorities as 

members of the association's recently formed College of 

Experts. On hand for the forums and for private one-onone, 

members-only consultations will be Dr. Kerri Harris, 

Bob Hibbert, Dr. Jim Marsden, Dr. "Reddi" Thipareddi, 

as long with Dr. Melvin Hunt (professor of meat science, 

Kansas State University), Dr. Chance Brooks (assistant 

professor of meat science, Texas Tech University), and 

Dr. Rich Mancini (assistant professor of meat science, 

University of Connecticut). 

NAMP is also expanding the conference's emphasis on 

Canadian issues with a special forum designed to address 

specific Canadian food safety issues with Dr. Bill Anderson 

and Robert de Valk. 

The conference also will focus on what 

slaughterers are doing to combat this 

pathogen before it reaches further processors 

– and how to manage a recall. 

Human resources professionals will learn how to avoid 

costly mistakes by hearing about changes to the U.S. Fair 

Labor Standards Act directly from Jim Kessler of the U.S. 

Labor Department. Topics will include the controversial 

“donning and doffing” rule. 

Sales professionals will hear Merit Gest talk about how to 

generate more sales by blending effective selling techniques 

with the principles of human potential. 

Marketing pros will hear case histories of companies 

that have succeeded by differentiating their business from 

the competition. Industry leaders like Corey Check of 

Smithfield Beef, Charlie Moore of Maverick Ranch, and 

Mike Satzow of North Country Smokehouse will talk about 

how their companies stepped ahead of the pack through 

savvy marketing. 

The keynote speaker will be Notre Dame Football Hero 

“Rudy” Reuttiger, immortalized in the 1993 movie Rudy. 

A highly sought after speaker, he brings a message of 

achievement through determination that comes from his 

personal experiences with overcoming adversity. 

For more information, visit namp.com. 

Canadian Meat Business January/February 2008 

meatbusiness.ca

AAFC’s Lacombe centre is internationally 

recognized for its red meat research. 

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 

From Early Pioneers 

to Current Issues 

The evolution of federal livestock and meat research in Alberta. 

By Debbie Lockrey-Wessel 

From pioneer times to modern day, livestock has 

been an important part of agriculture and a key 

component of federal research in Alberta. Recent 

centennial celebrations at two of Agriculture and Agri-Food 

Canada’s (AAFC) research centres provide an opportunity 

to recall the history of livestock and meat research in this 

prairie province. 

One hundred years ago, research centres were established 

in Lethbridge and Lacombe, Alta. to develop farming 

practices and help farmers produce crops and animals in a 

relatively harsh environment with a somewhat short growing 

season. Early research was closely aligned with the farming 

community and dealt with pioneer problems such as wind 

erosion, livestock, irrigation, and selecting crop varieties 

suitable to the region. 

Over the years these centres made significant contributions 

in crop research and the research on animals evolved into 

animal breeding and genetics, meat quality and safety. 

Today, animal-related research at these two AAFC centres 

has moved past the local farm gate and now provides valuable 

information to the national livestock and meat industry. 

Researchers in Lethbridge have developed range 

management and cross-breeding systems to increase beef 

production. Today the centre has facilities for sheep and 

beef cattle, including a research feedlot that is supported by 

a commercial-sized feed mill for preparing and optimizing 

animal rations. 

Specialized facilities and equipment allow scientists to 

study animal nutrition and disease prevention, and look 

inside the rumen stomach and closely examine metabolic 

systems, digestion and nutrition. 

Scientists in Lethbridge are tackling issues such as 

E.coli, the behaviour and welfare of cattle, working with 

the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to find a way to 

safely dispose of/compost dead livestock, and finding new 

strategies and techniques to preserve and enhance beef 

quality. Research is also developing new technologies to 

advance the efficiency, profitability and environmental 

sustainability of beef production. Several environmental 

projects focus on the impact of manure on soil and ground 

water quality and the impact of feedlot industry greenhouse 

gas production. 

Today, animal-related research at these two 

AAFC centres has moved past the local farm 

gate and now provides valuable information 

to the national livestock and meat industry. 

While research at Lethbridge concentrates on the live 

animal, Lacombe is internationally recognized for research 

on ante- and post-mortem factors that influence red meat: 

yield, quality, safety and preservation. 

Notable achievements from Lacombe include the 

development in the 1950s of non-destructive, electronic and 

physiological techniques to estimate carcass lean and fat in 

live animals, and collaboration with the industry to develop 

and revise national grading standards for beef (1972) and 

pork (1968) including the design and testing of novel 

instrumental grading technologies. 

Scientists at Lacombe also developed methods to detect 

and treat antemortem stress, ante- and post-mortem methods 

to evaluate and improve meat yield, colour, tenderness and 

eating quality, and hygienic processing procedures and 

preservation strategies to help the industry improve the safety 

10 Canadian Meat Business January/February 2008 meatbusiness.ca

and storage life of meats. A patented 

hot water hog carcass pasteurizer, 

now an integral component of swine 

processing, helped facilitate a 100- 

fold reduction in bacterial numbers, 

including E. coli. 

Today the centre at Lacombe contains 

a federally inspected slaughter and 

processing facility and meat research 

laboratories, 400-head beef herd and 

research feedlot, a 100-sow farrowfinish 

swine unit, kitchen and taste 

panel area for sensory analysis. These 

specialized facilities allow scientists to 

conduct research on factors affecting 

meat quality throughout the entirety of 

the meat production continuum from 

animal conception to consumption. 

Researchers continue to provide 

information to the production and 

processing sector on systems for 

producing meat of predictable and 

consistent quality and safety for the 

benefit of the meat industry, Canadian 

consumers and international trade 

partners. 

Current projects include research 

on the ways in which meat and meat 

products are processed, produced, 

packaged and distributed, and how 

these factors influence consumer 

acceptance for taste, flavour and 

appearance. Strategies are being 

developed to improve the safety and 

extend the storage life of meat, and 

prevent meat contamination during 

processing and distribution. 

Always striving to improve meat 

quality, scientists in Lacombe continue 

the tradition of finding new ways to 

estimate carcass yields and grading, 

evaluate and control variations in the 

composition and quality of carcasses 

and meat, and look for ways to reduce 

livestock stress and the resulting effects 

on the quality and yield of meat and 

meat products. 

Research from these two centres 

will continue to strengthen the 

Canadian meat industry and move 

Canada forward into another century 

of cutting-edge livestock and meat 

research in Alberta. 

Debbie Lockrey-Wessel is a 

communications advisor 

at Agriculture and 

Agri-Food Canada. 


January/February 2008 Canadian Meat Business 11

Canadian Food Industry 

2007 Review 

Food manufacturer profits 

up 10 per cent over 2006. 

According to Statistics Canada’s 

Quarterly Financial Statistics 

for Enterprises, food manufacturer 

profits were up 10 per cent by 

the end of the third quarter of 2007, 

compared to same time in 2006. A 

special statistical run for the George 

Morris Centre by StatsCan shows that 

operating margins (operating profits/ 

revenues) were just over six per cent, 

compared to a five per cent average 

between 1999 and 2006. 

While the final fourth-quarter 

Statistics Canada profit reports were 

not available at the time of printing, 

the first three quarters of the year 

provide an adequate perspective of 

performance. 

Food manufacturer margins over 

the past eight to nine years have seen 

a gradual improvement. Sales for 2007 

should increase by about three per 

cent to settle over $74 billion. That 

expected three per cent sales increase 

is right around the five-year average. 

In contrast, total manufacturing sales 

will likely only increase by one per 

cent. Food manufacturer sales as a 

share of total manufacturer sales have 

held steady at around 12 per cent for 

the last few years. 

Perhaps surprisingly, given the difficulties 

imposed by the Canadian dollar, 

it appears that food manufacturers 

enjoyed a relatively good year in 

By Kevin Grier 

2007. From a sales and marketing 

perspective the 2007 performance will 

be average or better than recent years. 

Another relatively positive sign is that 

the industry is continuing to actively 

invest in capital expenditures. In fact, 

investment actually soared in the third 

quarter, likely made easier by the 

appreciation of the Canadian dollar. 

Supermarkets are gradually losing food sales to general 

merchandisers, such as Wal-Mart and Costco. 

Food retailer margins are telling a 

different story, undergoing a not-sogradual 

reduction. The once strong 

spread of food over total retail is 

diminishing. Food retailing margins 

from 2005 to 2007 averaged three per 

cent, compared to four per cent from 

1999 to 2006. 

Supermarket sales were above yearago 

levels for almost every month in 

2007 through September. Based on 

sales during the first nine months of 

the year, total 2007 sales are likely to 

increase by three per cent to around 

$65.4 billion. 

While total supermarket sales 

increased, the share of supermarket 

sales as a percentage of total retail 

sales (not counting motor vehicle 

sales) continues to decline. In 2007, 

supermarket sales will likely amount 

to less than 21 per cent of total retail 

sales, which compares to more than 

21 per cent last year and nearly 25 per 

cent in 1997. 

Perhaps more worrisome from the 

grocer’s perspective is data published 

in Grocery Trade Review that showed 

supermarkets are gradually losing 

food sales to general merchandisers, 

such as Wal-Mart and Costco. While 

supermarkets still have the lion’s share 

of food sales, at about 88 per cent, that 

share has declined by two per cent 

since 2002, representing about $400 

million in sales each quarter. 

Clearly, the food retail industry in 

Canada is under margin and sales 

stress. Nowhere is the stress greater 

than in Ontario. Leading grocers 

have called Ontario a “blood bath,” 

and a “battle ground.” The difficulties 

are spreading across the rest of the 

country. Retailers are squeezed at both 

pricing and cost ends of the picture. 

On the cost side, manufacturers are 

pushing for pricing increases. Hardly 

a week goes by in the financial press, 

particularly in the U.S., without some 

leading manufacturer announcing or 

planning a price increase. 

Of course grocers are pushing back 

on the manufacturers. CIBC World 

Markets notes that, as reported in 

early October, Loblaw is asking for 

substantial incremental discounts from 

its suppliers, suggesting an overall 1.5 

per cent reduction in costs of goods in 

order to fund promotional campaigns. 

This comes on the heels of its 2007 

“cost freeze” edict issued back in 

February. CIBC World Markets notes 

this is another example of blanket 

attempts by management to mitigate 

the margin damage from its campaign 

to lower prices. The analysts go on to 

say that grocers are usually fooling 

themselves if they believe that suppliers 

will instantly fork over an extra 1.5 per 

cent just because they are ordered to. 

This is similar to how grocers 

sometimes fool themselves into 

thinking that a “cost freeze” really 

freezes costs. Some suppliers have 

made modest gains on the Canadian 

dollar, and Loblaw is right to focus on 

those. But even if Loblaw just deducts 

the targeted discounts off invoice, 

suppliers have plenty of ways to make 

this back. Reduced promotional 

support, substituted offerings, modest 

participation in events, a pullback on 

discretional trade spending or other 

types of effective cost increases will 

be implemented to claw back dollars. 

With commodity and input costs rising 


all year, suppliers are compelled to 

concoct methods to ease the pain. 

The Industry Price Index shows there 

was clearly some upward pressure on 

food pricing in late 2006 and early 

2007. Pricing undoubtedly stabilized 

for most of the year and in fact, began 

to decrease in the summer and fall. 

Looking at the specific commodity 

price indexes, there were three main 

areas that helped push pricing higher 

- meats, grain milling and dairy. 

Dairy generally exhibits a relatively 

steady year-over-year increase, so it is 

not the major influence of any change. 

Meats, on the other hand, showed a 

strong upward momentum in the latter 

half of 2006 and into 2007, but began 

a steady decline in the summer, which 

continued through October. Oilseeds, 

as well as flour, however, have been 

rising fairly steadily since mid 2006. 

Those are the items that have been 

most rapidly taking the brunt of grain 

and wheat cost increases. It will be 

important to see whether the increases 

there manage to flow through to further 

processed items such as breads, cereals 

and other goods. With those noted 

exceptions, at this point the key to note 

is that food manufacturing items have 

not generally moved higher in price by 

the end of the third quarter. 

On the consumer side, once again, 

pricing has not been favorable to 

retailers. 

After some fairly dramatic increases 

late in 2006 and early 2007, pricing 

stabilized and then backed off. Most 

of the increase, however, was due to 

big increases in fresh vegetables and, 

to a lesser extent, fruit. Those prices 

were related to winter freezes and have 

quickly fallen through the year. 

The key message is that the pricing 

of food purchased from stores is 

decreasing, not increasing. 

The primary reason for these 

decreases is the strong competition 

at the supermarket level. Wal-Mart’s 

influence in that area is likely the 

predominant reason. Wal-Mart has 

made 2007 the year of the rollback and 

has taken price focus to a whole new 

level. Furthermore, the gradual growth 

and spread of the “supercenter” format 

has all grocers on edge with regard to 

price. For its part, Loblaw has publicly 

stated that it needs to get its prices 

down. Other market share and square 

footage factors are also at play. The 

rapid appreciation of the Canadian 

dollar has forced retailers to lower 

prices, as consumers are increasingly 

aware of values and options in the U.S. 

There is no doubt that the retail pricing 

performance is due to competitive 

forces in Canada. 

One way to demonstrate that it is 

domestic competition, as opposed to 

overall pricing levels, is to compare 

performance in Canada and the 

U.S. From January 2006 through 

October 2007, Canadian food prices 

have increased about one per cent. 

U.S. food prices, on the other hand, 

have increased by nearly six per cent. 

Canada has clearly broken away from 

the U.S., and if you are a Canadian 

grocer that is not a good thing. 

Kevin Grier is a senior market analyst with 

the George Morris Centre. 



| Cross Countr y News | 

North-Central B.C. Meat Processing Plant 

Gets $4K in Funding 

Northwest Premium Meats Co-op in Telkwa recently 

received over $400,000 in funding. 

Northern Development Initiative Trust is providing a 

$433,000 loan guarantee to facilitate local financing by 

agricultural producers, investors and the Bulkley Valley 

Credit Union for the $1.6-million project. 

The facility will handle 3,000 animals per year starting 

in early 2008, with chill coolers, meat processing and 

custom packaging for local restaurants, retail outlets and 

consumers. The plant will create 13 jobs initially, with two 

more expected in the next two years. 

The project is the 100th for the trust in just over two 

years. 

opinion250.com 

Calgary Trims Trans Fats 

Calgary became the first city in Canada to regulate trans 

fats on New Year’s Day. 

Trans fats have become a top target of health advocates in 

recent years, but Calgary is the first Canadian municipality 

to set limits – following the example of Chicago and New 

York, which put similar regulations in place last year. 

The city launched a two-phase plan, the first phase 

requiring the use of oils and spreads that contain less than 

two per cent trans fat. 

Phase two, will require that all processed or manufactured 

foods contain less than five per cent of their total fat content 

as trans fats and should be effective by mid-January, 2009. 

Restaurants in the city are given a five-month grace 

period to institute the changes before risking health code 

violations and having their operating permits pulled. 

According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, 

the consumption of trans fats accounts for between 3,000 

and 5,000 deaths every year in Canada alone. 

ctv.ca 

Livestock Industry Legislation 

Streamlined 

Alberta has taken a step toward a more effective and 

efficient livestock industry with the introduction of Bill 47, 

the Livestock Commerce and Animal Inspection Statutes 

Amendment Act. 

The proposed legislation clarifies the requirements and 

refines the legal language of the Livestock Identification 

and Commerce Act (LICA) regarding security interest 

disclosure and payment for the sale of livestock. It also 

adds inspection authority over livestock market facilities 

and provides for regulation-making authority for facilities 

licensed under the Animal Health Act. 

The LICA, developed with extensive industry consultation 

to address industry concerns and issues, consolidates 

and revises three existing acts – the Brand Act, the Livestock 

Identification and Brand Inspection Act and the Livestock 

and Livestock Products Act. LICA received Royal Assent on 

May 24, 2006. 

Upon proclamation, the livestock industry will see such 

changes as mandatory livestock security interest disclosures, 

greater protection for personal property in livestock, 

streamlined documentation, and enhanced consumer 

protection. 

Alberta Agriculture and Food and Livestock Identification 

Services (LIS) jointly developed LICA and 

the Livestock Commerce and Animal Inspection Statutes 

Amendment Act. 

LIS is a not-for-profit company established in 1998 as the 

delegated authority for provincial livestock identification 

and inspection legislation. It is governed by a board of 

directors comprised of livestock industry representatives 

from various Alberta cattle and horse associations. 

peacecountrysun.com 

Province Announces Programs to Aid Hog 

and Cattle Producers 

Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud 


announced a new program to provide 

financial assistance to Saskatchewan 

hog and cattle producers. 

The Saskatchewan Short-Term Hog 

Loan Program and the Saskatchewan 

Short-Term Cattle Loan Program will 

provide an estimated $90 million in 

funding to those who are struggling 

during this current price downturn, 

the province announced in a press 

release. 

It is estimated the hog industry will 

access about $30 million in loans, 

while $60 million will be accessed by 

the cattle industry. Both sectors have 

been suffering from low prices brought 

on by an increase in the value of the 

Canadian dollar and very high feed 

grain prices. 

The province also announced it has 

signed onto the national AgriInvest 

and AgriStability programs, providing 

further assistance to livestock 

producers. 

Applications for the Saskatchewan 

Short-Term Hog Loan Program and 

Cattle Loan Program will be made 

available to producers early in the New 

Year. Deadline for applications is June 

10 for the hog program, and March 31 

for the cattle program. 

agriculture.gov.sk.ca 

Restaurant Chain to Cut 

Trans Fats 

As of Jan. 15, Manitoba restaurant 

chain Salisbury House has cut trans 

fats from its menu, according to a CBC 

News report. 

Salisbury House owner Earl Barrish 

said his restaurants spent two months 

testing new products to determine 

what could be used as an alternative. So 

far, he's had trouble finding a suitable 

replacement for the fats used in baked 

goods. It could take some time before 

those products are trans fat-free, he 

said. 

Winnipeg has not made a move 

to ban the compound, although the 

provincial government plans to ban 

the sale of any food containing trans 

fats in schools. 

cbc.ca 

NAMP Offers Center of the 

Plate Training in Guelph 

For the first time, the North American 

Meat Processors Association (NAMP) 

is offering its popular Centre of the 

Plate Training course in Canada. The 

course takes place Feb. 19 to 21 at the 

University of Guelph in Guelph, Ont., 

and covers all the major center of the 

plate protein items: beef, veal, lamb, 

pork, and poultry. 

NAMP’s Center of the Plate training 

is a first-hand look at how carcasses 

are converted into portioned items 

commonly traded in the foodservice 

business, covering all the major center 

of the plate protein items – beef, veal, 

lamb, pork, seafood and poultry. 

Participants will learn: 

• The international trading numbering 

system (IMPS/NAMP), purchase 

specified options, and standards 

common to the industry 

• A knowledge of meat items as 

described by IMPS and by NAMP's 

Meat Buyer's Guide 

• Where meat products originate and 

how this affects their use 

• Current trends in the food service 

industry including new menu ideas 

and options 

• How value is determined for different 

meat products and how this is affected 

by quality parameters. 

Course presentations will be made 

| Cross Countr y News | 

primarily by Steve Olson, meat 

marketing specialist at USDA's 

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). 

One of the main objectives in the 

course, according to Olson, is to teach 

people how to “identify variations in 

quality and eliminate them.” 

namp.com 

Aylmer Meat Packer Fined 

$125K 

Butch Clare of Aylmer Meat Products 

was convicted Dec. 14 of selling meat 

unfit for human consumption and fined 

$125,000, according to local news reports. 

Appearing in a London courtroom, 

Clare admitted to selling meat that 

hadn't been inspected and agreed to 

a statement that outlined evidence the 

meat came from cows that died before 

reaching the slaughterhouse. 

But despite his guilty pleas, Clare 

insisted the meat was safe, telling the 

judge, “I never, ever sold a piece of 

meat I wouldn't eat myself.” 

As part of his conviction, Clare 

was ordered not to take any role in a 

slaughterhouse for a year. Charges 

against his sons, who helped run 

Aylmer Meat, were dropped. 

Aylmer Meat Packers was shut down 

Aug. 21, 2003, after a probe by Ontario's 

Natural Resources Ministry. Meat 

inspectors said there were rampant 

abuses in meat inspection in Ontario 

and pressure by regulators to look the 

other way. 

lfpress.ca 



$12 Million 

Turnaround 

Government funding saves Atlantic 

Beef Products. 


Atlantic Canada’s only federally inspected beef 

processing plant received a much needed boost 

in December as the federal government and 

three provincial governments announced a $12 million 

investment in the facility. 

Atlantic Beef Products (ABP), located in Albany, P.E.I., 

opened its doors in December 2004 and has struggled 

“It’s fair to say we struggled from a financial standpoint 

pretty well from the time we opened our doors,” Baglole 

said of the plant. “With the three provincial governments 

coming together and then being able to access some dollars 

through ACOA, we believe it’s going to have the cash 

infusion it needs to put it on the right path.” 

ABP is owned by the Atlantic Beef Producers Co-operative, 

a group of 200 beef producers from across the region, and 

minority shareholder Co-op Atlantic of Moncton, N.B., for 

which ABP supplies product for the Atlantic Tender Beef 

Classic brand. 

Baglole noted the Atlantic Beef Producers Co-operative 

was formed after Maple Leaf Foods bought the Hub Meat 

Packers plant in Moncton – which processed both beef and 

pork products – in 2002. 

“Maple Leaf bought it for the hog side, because that’s the 

business they’re in, and then exited the beef business, which 

left the industry down here without a federally inspected 

plant,” Baglole said. 

ABP, he noted, was originally designed to process 500 

cattle a week on a single shift, five days a week, a goal that 

was met – and slightly exceeded – by last spring, before 

increased financial pressure caused the plant to scale back 

to only 100 cattle per week. Now, with the new support, the 

business is on its way to meeting its goal once again by the 

end of January. 

Atlantic Beef Products 

financially, losing approximately $10 million since. 

According to interim general manager Dean Baglole, the 

funding came at the right time. 

“The plant was in a crisis mode and there was a very real 

possibility that we’d have to shut it down,” he said. 

The federal government made a $6 million investment 

through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency 

(ACOA), an outfit that aims to improve the economy of 

communities in Atlantic Canada through the development 

of business and job opportunities. The ACOA funding will 

assist the company to undertake marketing initiatives for 

diversified and value-added products, purchase specialized 

equipment and provide advanced training. 

“This one-time investment will help the Maritimes’ only 

federally inspected beef plant improve efficiency and 

expand capacity and markets,” Peter MacKay, Minister of 

ACOA and of National Defence, said at a press conference 

on Dec. 9. 

The remaining funds come from the three Atlantic 

provinces, which will each contribute $2 million. Previous to 

the funding announcement, P.E.I. was the only government 

that had invested in the plant. In June the province provided 

$1.5 million and said it would be its last subsidy until other 

governments also contribute. 

The company boasts a state-of-the-art European-designed 

traceability system that can track each piece of meat back to 

the animal it came from, making for increased food safety. 

Part of the role of the funding, Baglole said, is to develop 

a new business and marketing plan to better position the 

company within the industry and take advantage of the 

right opportunities, including more value-adding from the 

plant side. 

“We’re a small enough company that we feel we can 

potentially offer niche products or something that a larger 

plant would have trouble doing,” he said. 

Baglole noted ABP has gone through several management 

and operational changes in 2007, but with the new funds 

the company is now in the right position to move forward. 

Baglole and Shane Murphy have been interim managers 

since general manager Lance Warmington left his position, 

prior to the funding announcement, to return to his native 

New Zealand. 

“Because we didn’t have the comfort level that we were 

going to secure funding, we felt it wasn’t fair to find a new 

GM and put him in here when the funding was not in 

place,” Baglole said. 

Atlantic Beef Products currently employs about 80 staff 

and has an annual payroll of $3 million. 


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| Industr y Roundup | 

Bison Meat Exports Double 

Over Five Years 

According to a Statistics Canada, 

the number of bison on Canadian 

farms has increased over a third in the 

last five years, and exports of bison 

meat have doubled in the same time 

period. 

The study, titled “Bison on the 

comeback trail” and based on Census 

of Agriculture data, says that nearly 

2,000 farms reported they had a 

total of 195,728 head of bison on 

their operations on May 16, 2006, an 

increase of 34.9 per cent since the 

previous census in 2001. 

The number of farms raising bison 

increased more than 6.5 times since 

1991. The number of bison continues 

to increase, responding to the rise of 

consumer demand both domestically 

and internationally, the report says. 

The number of bison slaughtered in 

federally and provincially inspected 

establishments in Canada climbed 

from 11,168 in 2001 to 25,613 in 2006. 

Exports of bison meat totalled over 

2,075,000 kilograms in 2006. Live 

bison exports also increased, peaking 

at 13,255 in 2006. 

The report outlines some of the 

advantages bison have over other 

livestock. As an indigenous species, 

bison are naturally adapted to the 

climate and able to survive blustery 

winter storms and sweltering summer 

heat. 

It also notes that the number of 

bison in Canada is on the rise “partly 

because health-conscious consumers 

perceive bison as being a more natural 

food product" and that bison tends 

to "yield a meat that is low in fat and 

calories and high in iron.” 

Canadian bison producers are 

concentrated in British Columbia, 

Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba 

– areas that are the traditional home 

for the animal. 

Meat Cutters Included in 

Expansion of Temporary 

Foreign Worker Program 

Twenty-one new occupations were 

added to the Expedited Labour 

Market Opinion pilot project, a 

temporary program designed to speed 

up the process for employers in British 

Columbia and Alberta to hire foreign 

workers, including industrial meat 

cutters and food service supervisors. 

“The 33 occupations now included 

in this pilot represent 50 per cent of 

the total volume of labour market 

opinion applications from employers 

in B.C. and Alberta,” said Federal 

Minister of Human Resources and 

Social Development Monte Solberg. 

The program will continue to run 

in B.C. and Alberta until September. 

It will allow eligible employers needing 

workers in the 33 specific occupations 

to receive their Labour Market 

Opinions much faster than in the past. 

The pilot project originally covered 12 

specific occupations. 

hrsdc.gc.ca 

VC999 Packaging Systems 

Opens New Canada 

Logistics Centre and 

Offices 

VC999 Packaging Systems, a 

leading international packaging 

equipment manufacturer, has 

announced the completion of a new 

20,000 square foot logistics centre in 

St-Germain de Grantham, Que., just 

outside Montreal, that will house its 

Canada location. 

The new building is equipped to 

handle international customs shipping 

and inspection. VC999 plans on using 

the warehouse to handle much of its 

international shipping. 

The warehouse was specifically 

designed to meet LEED (Leadership 

in Energy and Environmental Design) 

criteria. The company said it chose the 

finest materials for the project in order 

to ensure better air quality for the 

warehouse. The building also meets 

CT-Pat standards and HACCP rules for 

warehousing. 

The centre will formally open on 

Feb. 22 and will employ 12 people. 

vc999.com 

New Western Canadian 

Value Chain Initiative 

Agriculture councils across Western 

Canada have joined forces to form 

a new initiative designed to encourage 

the development of inter-provincial 

value chains. 

The Agriculture Council of 

Saskatchewan, the British Columbia 

Investment Agriculture Foundation, 

the Alberta Agriculture and Food 

Council, the Manitoba Rural 

Adaptation Council and the provincial 

governments of all four western 

provinces will form the Western 

Canadian Value Chain Initiative. 

The organizations recognized a 

need for a collaborative approach in 

promoting the value chain model, 

delivering a consistent series of 

workshops across Western Canada that 

will encourage more inter-provincial 

value chains to develop. 

The initiative will be based on the 

Saskatchewan Agri-Food Value Chain 

Initiative. 

U.S. Actress Launches 

Campaign Against Horse 

Meat in Canada 

American actress and one-time 

Playboy model Bo Derek launched 

a campaign against the slaughter of 

horses for meat in Canada, saying 

that Canada needs to modernize and 

toughen its 115-year old animal cruelty 

laws. 

A press release issued by Derek said 

there is no law specifically protecting 

wild horses in Canada, though the U.S. 

has offered legal protection for its wild 

horses since 1971. 

The closure of major American 

slaughter operations in the face of an 

impending ban has meant an increase 

of over 40 per cent in the number 

of horses crossing the border to be 

slaughtered in Canada. She said the 

U.S. ban on horse slaughter could 

result in 100,000 horses being killed 

here in the next year. 

“I was surprised to discover that 

Canada has cruelty laws that were 


| Industr y Roundup | 

written a century ago, that there is no protection at all 

here for wild horses and that 300 horses a day could face 

death in a trade most Canadians would want no part of,” 

Derek said. 

Foodservice Suppliers Embrace Canada's 

Largest-Ever Hospitality Event 

More than 700 exhibitors are now expected to welcome 

a record-breaking audience of Canadian chefs, 

restaurateurs, bar experts and foodservice professionals 

during the CRFA Show's three-day run, March 2 to 4 at the 

Direct Energy Centre in downtown Toronto. 

The original plan for 1,442 exhibit booths at the CRFA 

Show has been expanded to more than 1,600, thanks largely 

to the return of many former exhibitors from the HostEx 

and Food & Beverage shows. 

To meet strong demand, a limited number of exhibit 

booths are being made available in the Direct Energy 

Centre's Heritage Court, adjacent to the main building. 

crfa.ca 

Silliker Acquires JR Laboratories 

Silliker, a world leader in food safety and quality services, 

has acquired 70 per cent of the Burnaby, B.C.-based food 

testing and technical consulting company JR Laboratories. 

Founded in 1988 by Ray Cheung and Jimmy Chang, 

JR Laboratories serves many of the country's major food, 

beverage, natural health, and pharmaceutical companies. 

Under terms of the acquisition, Ray Cheung and Jimmy 

Chang will assume the roles of division president and 

division vice president, respectively, in the renamed Silliker 

JR Laboratories, ULC. 

The expertise and capabilities of Silliker JR Laboratories 

and Silliker Markham in Ontario, are complementary, 

and will ensure full testing services in Canada while also 

covering the Northwest United States region. 

silliker.com 

Maple Leaf Foods Completes Strategic 

Review of Rendering Operations 

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. announced it will retain its 

Rothsay rendering operations. Rothsay recycles 

inedible animal by-products, generated by Maple Leaf 

operations or collected from other customers, into valueadded 

products including animal feed, amino acid 

supplements, biodiesel and other industrial uses. 

In October 2006, Maple Leaf announced a change in its 

strategy to focus on growth in its value added meat, meals 

and bakery businesses. At that time, management indicated 

the role of its rendering operations was under review. 

Management has since concluded that the business is an 

integral part of managing the disposition of by-products 

from its remaining primary processing operations. 

investor.mapleleaf.ca 

BSE Case Confirmed in Alberta 

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed 

the diagnosis of bovine spongiform encephalopathy 

(BSE) in a 13-year-old beef cow from Alberta on Dec. 18. 

The animal's carcass is under CFIA control, and no part of 

it entered the human food or animal feed systems. 

The age of the infected animal falls within the age range 

of previous cases detected in Canada under the national 

BSE surveillance program. The animal was born before the 

implementation of Canada's feed ban in 1997. 

The CFIA stated this case will not affect Canada's status as 

a controlled risk country for BSE. 

inspection.gc.ca 

PM Announces New Food and Consumer 

Safety Action Plan 

Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently announced the 

Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan, a set of proposed 

new measures that will legislate tougher federal regulation of 

food, health, and consumer products. 

The proposed legislation will transform the government's 

approach to regulating product safety. New measures will 

include: 

• Mandatory product recalls when companies fail to act on 

legitimate safety concerns 

• Making importers responsible for the safety of goods they 

bring into Canada 

• Increasing maximum fines under the Food and Drug Act 

from $5,000 up to current international standards 

• Better safety information for consumers and guidance 

to industries on building safety throughout their supply 

chains. 



Meat-Friendly 

Weight Loss 

High protein diet developed by Toronto 

doctor treats metabolic syndrome, 

Type 2 diabetes. 


When Keith Young visited 

his doctor on the day after 

his 72nd birthday, the Yes 

Group chairman and CEO found out 

the number 72 had more significance 

than just his age – it was also the amount 

of weight he’d lost since starting a new 

high-protein, low-carb diet just five 

months earlier. 

On the recommendation of a 

physician he was seeing for high blood 

pressure, Young met with Torontobased 

doctor Pat Poon and started 

following his specialized metabolic 

diet on July 28. At the time Young 

weighed 284 pounds. Within two weeks 

the meat industry veteran lost over 13 

pounds, and as of Dec. 28 he weighed 

211 pounds – just 11 pounds away from 

the target weight initially set out by Dr. 

Poon. 

But the weight loss was not the most 

dramatic change Young saw as a result 

of the diet. “Prior to the start I was 

taking 78 units of insulin a day, and 

for the last couple of months I’ve taken 

none – absolutely zero,” says Young, 

who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 

15 years ago. He also now takes about 

half the amount of high blood pressure 

medication that he used to. 

Poon has been running his diet 

program since 2000. The doctor says 

the diet was designed to treat metabolic 

syndrome and type 2 diabetes, not just 

weight loss. Poon notes that metabolic 

syndrome is a cluster of three of 

the following five signs: abdominal 

obesity, high blood sugar, high serum 

triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol 

and high blood pressure. His book, 

Dr. Poon’s Metabolic Diet, says that, 

according to a study, men aged 42 to 

60 that suffer from the syndrome are 

2.9 to 4.2 times more likely to die from 

a heart attack than those who don’t. 

According to the American 

Heart Association, 47 million U.S. 

residents have metabolic syndrome. 

While current Canadian data on the 

syndrome is not available, the Heart 

and Stroke Foundation of Canada says 

the prevalence rate for the syndrome 

in 2004 was 25.8 per cent, noting that 

thousands of Canadians are affected. 

People over the age of 50 are more 

at risk, as are certain ethnic groups 

(Heart and Stroke said the prevalence 

rate among First Nations people is 41.6 

per cent, compared to 11 per cent for 

Chinese). 

“If you’re just overweight you can go 

on any diet and you will lose weight, but 

not every diet is for certain conditions,” 

“If someone has high 

cholesterol it is because they 

are eating too much starch, not 

too much meat. People have 

to understand that – then they 

won’t be scared of eating meat 

anymore.” – Dr. Pat Poon. 

Poon says, noting that many commercial 

low-fat diets emphasize eating very little 

meat. “What happens if you go on that 

kind of diet? The patient loses muscle 

as well as fat. That is the big difference 

between this diet and any other– it has 

a high protein content so you gain the 

muscle that you have lost.” 

That makes Poon’s diet very meatfriendly. 

In fact, Young says he is able 

to eat an “almost unlimited” amount of 

meat. However, the doctor stresses that 

the emphasis is on lean meats, such as 

chicken, sirloin steak and beef or pork 

tenderloin – unlike other low-carb 

diets that allow salty items like bacon. 

“This is not just a low-carb diet,” Poon 

says, noting the difference compared 

to popular programs such as the 

Atkins and South Beach diets. “It is a 

low-carb, low-fat and low-sodium diet 

– all three things at the same time.” 

Dr. Poon holds regular seminars for 

individuals and medical professionals 

wanting to learn more about the 

program, but notes that there is a 

three-month waiting list to see him or 

any of the other eight doctors working 

at his two clinics (one in Toronto, the 

second in Richmond Hill). Among the 

topics covered in his seminar is the 

“misconception” that beef is high in 

cholesterol. 

“If you go for a piece of fatty meat, 

of course (the cholesterol) is high, but 

try to eat lean,” he says, noting that, 

according to data obtained by the U.S. 

Food and Drug Administration, lean 

red meat is actually lower in cholesterol 

than in fish, which he notes many see 

as a healthier alternative to red meat. 

“If someone has high cholesterol it 

is because they are eating too much 

starch, not too much meat,” he says. 

“People have to understand that – then 

they won’t be scared of eating meat 

anymore.” 

Poon’s book is available exclusively 

through his website, poondiet.com. 

Much of its content is written for 

medical professionals, he notes, but 

the section on how to follow the three 

phases of the diet is easy for all patients 

to understand. 

The amount of time spent on each 

phase of the diet will differ from 

individual to individual, Poon notes. In 

the first phase a patient’s metabolism 

is changed from “fat forming” to “fat 

burning” – then they determine how 

much carbohydrate they can tolerate 

while still burning fat. The final phase 

is a life-long program that allows 

patients to eat a variety of foods, but 

still emphasizes that too many carbs 

can be problematic. 

Young, who is about to enter the third 

stage of the diet – notes the weight loss 

has made him more active, adding 

that he recently joined a gym to work 

out. “Obviously after you lose all that 

weight you need to tone yourself up,” 

he says. 

An increased level of energy is a good 

thing for Young, who still works full 

days at the meat processing supplies 

company he founded in 1987. “I should 

be retired but I still come in here at 

6:30 in the morning,” he says. 


events calendar 

February 

14 - 15 AMI Animal Care and 

Handling Conference 

Westin Crown Center, Kansas 

City, Missouri 

meatami.com 

anuttall@meatami.com 

15 - 17 Ontario Independent 

Meat Processors Conference 

Niagra Falls, Ont. oimp.ca 

19 - 21 NAMP Center of the 

Plate Training 

University of Guelph, Guelph, Ont. 

namp.com 

20 Canadian Council of Grocery 

Distributors 2008 Atlantic 

Conference 

Halifax, N.S. ccgd.ca 

23 – 27 American Frozen Food 

Institute Convention 

San Diego, California affi.com 

25 Food Safety 2008 Forum 

Toronto, Ont. foodsafetyforum.ca 

March 

2 - 4 CFRA Show 

Toronto, Ont. crfa.ca 

9 - 11 AMI Annual Meat 

Conference 

Gaylord Opryland Resort and 

Convention Center, Nashville, 

Tennesse meatconference.com 

anuttall@meatami.com 

10 – 14 Canadian Cattlemen’s 

Association Annual General 

Meeting 

Ottawa, Ont. cattle.ca 

12 Ontario Pork Producers 

Annual Meeting 

London Convention Centre, 

London, Ont. ontariopork.on.ca 

28 - 30 North American Meat 

Processors Association 51st 

Management Conference 

The Drake Hotel, Chicago, 

Illinois namp.com 

smoore@namp.com 

Visit meatbusiness.ca for more 

event listings. 

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Ethanol as Public Policy 

in Canada 

Understanding the broader 

policy context. 

By Al Mussell and Larry Martin 

Biofuel development has recast the horizon in North 

American agriculture. Throughout 2005 and 2006, 

ethanol production margins in the U.S. were very 

strong, given high oil prices, relatively low corn prices, 

and unfilled ethanol blend targets. This led to major 

expansion in ethanol plants and production in 2006 

and 2007, driving a powerful bull market in corn and 

feedgrains. 

However, as the U.S. harvests a historically large corn 

crop in 2007, and as corn prices have retreated from last 

summer’s highs, we are witnessing the long overdue backlash 

against grain-based ethanol. The basic criticisms are: 

• Ethanol is reliant on massive subsidies and border 

protection to be economically viable – it does not have 

economic value without them 

• Ethanol does little to reduce CO2 levels, and is among the 

more expensive ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 

from automobiles 

• Ethanol is only marginally energy efficient 

• Ethanol production consumes large volumes of fresh 

water 

• Ethanol growth will drive inflation in food and in the 

broader economy, and is generating a food security issue 

in some countries, such as Mexico 

• Further ethanol growth is being hampered by significant 

technical and distribution problems 

• The ethanol plants’ margins have collapsed relative to 

historic levels and the profit outlook is very tight, both 

short and long term. 

These findings apply equally in the U.S. and Canada – but 

the bigger picture question is how, or whether, ethanol fits 

strategically within Canada’s broader agri-food policy. 

Before 1990, Canada was a leading grain exporting 

country, particularly of wheat and, to a lesser extent, 

feedgrains. Feed-Freight Assistance and the Western 

Grain Transportation Act (or Crow Rate freight subsidy) 

were leading agricultural marketing policy instruments. 

Ethanol development in the U.S. has 

depleted livestock feeding margins in both 

the U.S. and Canada. This, along with a 

strong Canadian dollar and lower livestock 

prices, has resulted in Canadian livestock 

producers facing extremely tight margins. 

Then, as liberalization in international trade occurred, 

these programs were removed. With the removal of 

transportation subsidies, wheat and feedgrains in Western 

Canada were suddenly out of export position, wheat 

acreage fell significantly, and feedgrains at prairie points 

became cheap. This provided incentives for livestock and 

meat development; major investments occurred in livestock 

feeding and meat processing, and dual marketing of hogs 

was undertaken in Western Canada. Viewed in retrospect 

the change was dramatic. 

Thus, Canadian agricultural policy evolved quickly from 

a strategic focus on grain exports to livestock and meat 


exports. Canadian export data would suggest that this has 

been concurrent with dramatic restructuring in the nature 

of products exported and phenomenal growth in export 

value. It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that this strategic 

shift has been a success for Canadian agri-food. 

Ethanol Development Now 

There are several reasons to be skeptical about the 

benefits of ethanol. However, what is uniquely Canadian 

is that future ethanol development will affect the “basis” 

for corn and feedgrains, or the level of prices in Canada 

relative to the U.S. price. Absent an ethanol industry, 

Canada would be an exporter of feedgrains, and grain 

prices would be below the U.S. or other points, generally 

by the amount of freight cost. This is consistent with our 

strategy to be competitive in meat exports on the basis of 

feed cost. However, as Canada develops subsidized ethanol 

production, the demand for grains will increase, raising 

their prices relative to the U.S. For livestock producers who 

purchase feedgrains this means that, rather than having a 

small relative advantage in feed cost, they have a relative 

disadvantage. 

As it stands, ethanol development in the U.S. has depleted 

livestock feeding margins in both the U.S. and Canada. This, 

along with a strong Canadian dollar and lower livestock 

prices, has resulted in Canadian livestock producers facing 

extremely tight margins. At least one provincial government 

has initiated an estimated $165 million program to assist 

cash flow, mainly for livestock producers, and several other 

governments are reported to be considering programs. 

Subsidizing ethanol production in Canada and further 

supporting strength in grain prices, thereby exacerbating 

the livestock margin issue, will only raise the cost of 

assisting livestock producers (and increase the liability on 

the treasury). This is in addition to the basis-strengthening 

effect. 

It is hard to see how Canadian ethanol development is a 

winner for Canada. Its effects on the Canadian livestock and 

meat industry threaten hundreds of millions of dollars of 

investment, and certainly discourage new investment. It will 

do little to assist the environment. It produces a product that 

can only be profitable with subsidies, thereby ensuring that 

there is no added market value for the product. Therefore, 

just because the U.S. is developing ethanol does not mean 

Canada should. 

In reflecting on ethanol policy, Canadian policy makers 

should consider that Canada does not need to use ethanol 

to wean itself from foreign oil dependence when it is a net 

exporter. The public funding required for establishing an 

ethanol industry of sufficient scale to materially drive up 

grain prices further would be staggering. The environmental 

benefits of grain-based ethanol are just too modest to be 

taken very seriously, particularly when considered relative 

to the costs. 

Rather than attempting to drive ethanol as a solution 

to both farm marketing and environmental problems, 

governments should consider the policy goal of improving 

farm product markets. This could better be achieved through 

existing strategy by assisting the livestock and meat industry 

with its current difficulties, and by recapturing its historic 

competitive advantage with renewed investment, rather 

than by exacerbating the industry’s problems with policies 

that further drive up feed costs. The environmental issues 

that grain-based ethanol purports to address could more 

easily be solved by focusing conservation efforts through 

innovation, such as more fuel-efficient engines, or bio-fuels 

that are not injurious to our strategy as a meat exporter. In 

this regard, Canadian firms are already leaders in cellulosic 

ethanol production technology, and their further success 

might be leveraged as part of a uniquely Canadian biofuel 

strategy. 

Al Mussell is a senior research associate and Larry Martin is a 

senior research fellow at the George Morris Centre. To read the full 

report, visit georgemorris.org. 



| Assembly Line | 

Assembly Line is an opportunity for companies to feature new products for the meat producing, 

processing, packaging and distribution industry. To include information about your new product 

e-mail alan@meatbusiness.ca. 

Mulvany Attard Associates 

Announces Food Industry 

Specific Software 

Toronto-based food industry 

software company Mulvany Attard 

Associates (MAA) is celebrating its 

30th anniversary in 2008 by launching 

its newest software offering, WinFDS 

SaaS (Software as a Service). 

“WinFDS SaaS represents the next 

logical extension of our software 

product,” company president Victor 

Attard says. “Customers can now 

decide which acquisition model works 

best for them – either the traditional 

model of purchasing our software 

outright, or our SaaS model. SaaS 

appeals to those clients who prefer to 

pay for their software on a monthly, 

per-user basis. With completely open 

Meat Processing 

Plant Auction 

We have been instructed to 

sell the assets of the former 

DenDekker Meats 

#404056 Union Road, 

Ingersoll, Ontario N5C 3J8 

Monday, February 25th 

10:30am 

Highlights include Vortron 2 

cage smoke house, generator 

& carts; several evaporators, 

condensers & compressors – as 

new; S/S blood tank; assorted 

scales; hog scalding tank; 

dehairing machine; tumblers; 

meat saws & slicers; 150 KW 

Cummins diesel generator; 

Caterpillar forklift. 

Shackelton Auctions Inc. 

Phone: (519) 765-4450 

For Full List & Details 

See Our Website: 

www.shackeltonauctions.com 

terms of agreement and the ability to 

write off the software as an operating 

expense versus a capital expenditure, 

significant savings can be achieved. 

We’re very excited about WinFDS 

SaaS and the positive reception it has 

received from the food industry prior 

to its official launch.” 

Adds Michael Benedick, MAA’s 

operations manager: “Over the years, 

we’ve noticed many companies tend 

to underestimate the amount of 

money they must spend in order to 

keep their software, computer systems 

and infrastructure current. This isn’t 

surprising, considering resources for 

new hardware and software is often 

quite limited. SaaS provides the perfect 

solution for companies in this position. 

The software provides all the necessary 

management tools a food company 

needs to expand their business within 

a short period of time. Since there is no 

up-front capital outlay, WinFDS SaaS 

contributes almost immediately to the 

company’s bottom line, with Mulvany 

Attard assuming all support, training, 

hosting and data security concerns.” 

mulvanyaa.com 

Making Linking and 

Cutting Natural Casing 

Sausage Easier 

Individual natural casing sausage 

links of identical length, weight and 

diameter can be achieved with the 

Vemag LPV802 Length Portioning 

Device and the Vemag TM203 Cutting 

Machine from Reiser and Vemag. 

The Vemag LPV802 is a casing 

holding device that attaches to the 

Vemag sausage stuffer and links fresh 

and cooked sausages in sheep and 

hog casings with identical length, 

weight and diameter. The Vemag 

filler precisely portions weight while 

the LPV802 simultaneously calibrates 

the sausage to automatically achieve 

identical lengths and diameters. 

Specially sorted casings are not 

required. 

The Vemag TM203 Cutting Machine 

allows processors to cut strings of 

fresh sausage into individual sausages 

quickly and precisely right on the 

filling table. The TM203 offers highly 

accurate cutting technology, reaching 

rates of up to 1,200 cuts per minute. 

The high degree of accuracy during 

cutting prevents damage to the ends of 

sausages. 

reiser.com 

Hyster Offers New Series 

of Lift Trucks 

Hyster Company recently announced 

its Fortis line of lift trucks. 

Incorporating proven design processes 

and systems, each Fortis lift truck 

is offered with multiple powertrain 

configurations to meet specific 

application requirements and business 

objectives and to optimize productivity, 

dependability and cost of operations. 

The Fortis line, which covers a 

capacity range of 2,000 lb to 15,500 


| Assembly Line | 

lb, offers both cushion and pneumatic tire classes, with 

multiple engine choices consisting of gas, LP and diesel. 

The series also includes a Pacesetter VSM industrial 

onboard computer for adjustable performance to maximize 

uptime. The Fortis patented DuraMatch transmission 

systems include such features as an auto deceleration 

system, controlled rollback on ramps, controlled power 

reversals and auto-speed hydraulics with automatic 

inching control to help operators move loads more efficiently 

with less fatigue and product damage. 

Hyster counterbalanced lift trucks provide superior 

ergonomic features to ensure maximum operator comfort 

and control during a shift. Innovations of the Fortis series 

to help reduce costs related to fatigue include repositioned 

foot pedals, fatigue-reducing operator compartments 

designed to isolate vibrations and easily adjustable 

operator settings. 

hysteramericas.com 

Quality Management and HACCP 

Quality Management is a fully integrated feature of 

the business process solution of CSB-System. It is 

fully complaint with all industry standards for HACCP, 

ISO 9001:2000 and IFS. The QM and HACCP module is 

completely integrated into the materials management of 

CSB, to ensure that all tests can be recorded in process (e.g. 

right at receiving) and that the proper action is initiated 

instantly (e.g. ‘block in inventory’) as the results are 

processed. In extended options, the results can be used to 

dynamically adjust recipes based on raw material potential. 

csb-system.com 

vacuum package as far 

as moisture containment 

and shelf life. It also 

features a rigid traystyle 

presentation that 

denotes high quality. 

The VSP package is 

appropriate for a wide 

variety of products 

– fresh meat, processed 

meat, cheese, even fruits 

and vegetables. Any 

product that is firm and 

has a defined shape is a 

candidate for VSP. 

The Repak is capable 

of running vacuum 

packages at rates of 15- 

20 CPM, MAP packages 

at rates of 10-12 CPM, 

and VSP packages at 8- 

10 CPM depending on 

product and package 

size. Our customers can 

easily change over from 

one package style to the next, making the system ideal for 

a small to mid-sized producer or larger producers with 

varying package and product needs. 

reiser.com 

CSB-System Integrated Call Planning 

With CSB-System’s new Phone-master Technology, hand 

written notes can be eliminated. Users can plan all 

customer and vendor interactions and track completion of 

the calls, enter notes and schedule follow-up calls on screen 

as part of the order processing process in an integrated 

solution. 

The planning can be based on individuals or calling 

groups. Each operator will be automatically guided to 

the next person to be called. On the inbound side caller- 

ID recognition can be used in conjunction with the 

Phonemaster Technology to show the customer calling in, 

before users pick up the phone. 

All supportive information during the call are readily 

available, such as last orders, promotional pricing up to 

accounts receivable information with the goal in mind to 

optimize productivity of the sales department. 

csb-system.com 

Reiser Introduces Vacuum Skin Packaging 

Reiser’s Repak allows customers to produce everything 

from flexible vacuum packages (VSP) to rigid modified 

atmosphere packages (MAP). 

The Repak VSP has the same high performance of a 



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| Product Showcase | 

STAINLESS STEEL TRUCKS / RACKS 

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Hollymatic introduces the new 

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| Product Showcase | 

New 

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| Meat Industr y Business Watch | 

Angel Investors 

Do they have halos on their heads and 

pitchforks in their hands? 

By James Sbrolla 

An angel investor, or “angel”, is 

an affluent individual who 

provides capital for a business 

start-up. There are many different 

structures but usually the angel provides 

capital in exchange for convertible 

debt or ownership equity. A small but 

increasing number of angel investors 

are organizing themselves into angel 

networks or angel groups to share 

research and pool their investment 

capital. 

One of the most prominent and 

successful of these groups is the 

Maple Leaf Angels, a Toronto based 

association that was formed in 2007. 

They meet once a month to review 

deals and thus far have invested in eight 

transactions totaling approximately 

$3 million. Their meetings generally 

have three presentations by companies 

looking for money. These presentations 

are made to approximately 30 wellqualified 

angels. 

Ken Paige, chair of the Maple Leaf 

Angels explains, “We have attracted 

very interesting deals and they have 

been presented to a real cross section 

of the business world. We have a great 

group of minds that get together and 

evaluate deals. There is a consensus 

that we all feel that we are stronger 

together than the sum of the parts.” 

The term “angel” in this context 

originally comes from England where it 

was used to describe wealthy individuals 

who provided money for theatrical 

productions. In 1978, William Wetzel, 

a founder of the Center for Venture 

Research, completed a pioneering 

study on how entrepreneurs raised 

seed capital in the U.S. and began 

using the term “angel” to describe the 

investors that supported them. The 

name stuck. In Europe they refer to 

them as “business angels.” 

Rob Koturbash, managing director 

of the Maple Leaf Angels describes 

the reasons people get involved: “Our 

group is made up of investors who 

are often retired entrepreneurs or 

executives, who may be interested in 

angel investing for reasons that go 

beyond pure monetary return. These 

include wanting to keep abreast of 

current developments in a particular 

business arena, mentoring another 

generation of entrepreneurs, or making 

use of their experience and networks 

on a less-than-full-time basis. Thus, in 

addition to funds, angel investors can 

often provide valuable management 

advice and important contacts.” 

According to the Center for 

Venture Research, there 

were 234,000 active angel 

investors in the U.S. in 2006. 

According to the Center for Venture 

Research, there were 234,000 active 

angel investors in the U.S. in 2006. 

Beginning in the late 1980s, angels 

started to coalesce into informal groups 

with the goal of sharing deal flow and 

due diligence work, and pooling their 

funds to make larger investments. 

Angel groups are generally local 

organizations made up of 10 to 150 

accredited investors interested in earlystage 

investing. Whereas in 1996 there 

were only 10 angel groups in the U.S., 

as of late 2007 there are more than 

250, with a roughly equal number in 

all other countries combined. The 

more advanced of these groups have 

full time, professional staffs, associated 

investment funds, sophisticated 

web-based platforms for processing 

funding applications and large annual 

operating budgets. 

Angels typically invest their own 

funds, unlike venture capitalists, who 

manage the pooled money of others in a 

professionally-managed fund. Although 

typically reflecting the investment 

judgment of an individual, the actual 

entity that provides the funding may 

be a trust, business, limited liability 

company, or investment fund. 

Angel capital fills the gap in start-up 

financing between “friends and family" 

(sometimes humorously called friends, 

family, and fools) who provide seed 

funding, and venture capital. Although 

it is usually difficult to raise more than 

a few hundred thousand dollars from 

friends and family, most traditional 

venture capital funds are usually not 

able to consider investments under 

US$1–2 million. 

Thus, angel investment is a common 

second-round of financing for highgrowth 

start-ups, and accounts in total 

for almost as much money invested 

annually as all venture capital funds 

combined, but into more than ten 

times as many companies. 

Geoff Simonett, one of the Maple 

Leaf Angels shares these thoughts: 

“I’ve noticed that many entrepreneurs 

initially believe they have a great idea 

and if they just meet the right VC and 

raise some money, they will be the 

next ‘big winner.’ The problem is that 

they are not prepared for VCs and 

often not even prepared for investors 

at all. Usually VCs won’t give them the 

time of day since, as representatives 

of investors, they have to focus on the 

right deals. Angels on the other hand 

are entrepreneurs first and will often 

help coach these companies before 

they are ready for financing in order 

to bring them to the table with the 

right tools. So, friendly but with good 

advice.” 

James Sbrolla is a Torontobased 

management 

consultant and can be 

reached at 416.234.5120 

or sbrolla@rogers.com.

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