COOL not a red flag for beef from Canada

Ron Friesen, Manitoba Co-operator

Aug. 20

Regina — Fears that U.S. country-of-origin labelling will cause American shoppers to avoid Canadian beef may be greatly exaggerated, new consumer research suggests.

A recent survey by the Beef Information Centre found that, in a series of blind taste tests, U.S. consumers could not tell the difference between Canadian beef and their own.

This should give U.S. grocery store owners confidence to carry beef labelled “Product of Canada” in their meat counters, said Glenn Brand, BIC’s chief executive officer.

The U.S. country-of-origin labelling (COOL) rule requires retailers to label fresh meat and certain other foods according to the countries from which they originated.

The rule also applies to meat from animals born outside the U.S. but slaughtered in American plants.

New law

Canadian livestock producers worry a country-of-origin label would be a red flag to U.S. shoppers who may feel imported meat is not as good as homegrown product.

But that may not be the case, Brand told the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association national convention here Aug. 12.

Tests done for BIC by Texas Tech University revealed that Americans who participated in the survey found Canadian beef just as palatable as U.S. beef, Brand said.

BIC, CCA’s consumer research and promotional arm, received the final test results earlier this summer. It plans to use them in a marketing strategy to sell Canadian beef in the U.S., he said.

Canada’s share of the U.S. beef market is three per cent.

BIC won’t have to persuade American shoppers to buy Canadian beef if U.S. retailers are willing to carry it. And retailers will be less hesitant to carry the Canadian label if they know their customers have confidence in the product, Brand told the convention.

Acceptance

BIC’s research shows Americans accept Canadian beef if they know it’s safe, wholesome and equal to USDA standards.
Getting U.S. retailers to recognize that is more than half the battle toward getting beef with the Canadian label into their stores, said Brand.

COOL officially came into effect in January 2009. It has hurt exports of live finished cattle and slaughter hogs to the U.S. because packing plants don’t want the time and expense of segregating Canadian-born animals from American ones in order to meet the rule.

But Brand said there’s no evidence yet that COOL is affecting sales of beef from Canada, or that U.S. buyers are price discounting it.

“Canadian beef is still moving at an equivalent price to U.S. product,” he said.

“Significant premiums”

In fact, buyers in the U.S. eastern seaboard are giving “significant premiums” on beef from Eastern and Atlantic Canada and still making more profit than on beef from the U.S. Midwest because of shorter distances and lower freight costs, said Brand.

BIC is working with U.S. packers that import Canadian cattle to help them develop a customer base for a mixed label (such as “Product of the U.S. and Canada”), he said.

The agency is also trying to develop new markets among Hispanics who may not share the same loyalty to the U.S. brand as Americans do, said Brand.

At the same time, BIC is promoting more sales of Canadian beef to U.S. restaurants and fast-food chains, since COOL does not apply to those industries.

— Reprinted from the Manitoba Co-operator, Aug. 20, 2009, page 10.