Controversy surrounding Earls Restaurants’ decision to source Certified Humane beef from the United States could prove positive for the Canadian beef industry according to Alberta Beef Producers chairman Bob Lowe.
During a May 25 Rocky View 2020 meeting, he said the cattle industry in Canada takes pride in its codes of practice to ensure beef is raised in a responsible and humane way, but added the country doesn’t “brag about” or promote those standards with a stamp.
With more eyes and interest on the beef industry, he said now is a time to have discussions with producers, retailers and government about the ways to work together and avoid similar situations in the future.
“The Earls thing is going to turn out to be one of the best things that ever happened to the industry,” he said. “It’s a walk-up call and it’s going to prove to be huge for both Earls and the cattle industry.”
With a need for only 15 per cent of the animal, he said Earls was convinced it could not find a supply chain in Canada to provide antibiotic- and hormone-free beef without paying a premium for the remaining 85 per cent of the animal it had no use for.
Earls announced it would no longer serve Canadian beef in April, instead sourcing its meat from Kansas. After public backlash, the Canadian restaurant chain reversed that decision May 4, saying it made a mistake.
Earls is currently in the process of rewriting its guidelines, Lowe said, and is working with the Canadian beef industry to secure a supply chain by putting different retailers together in the same room.
“You don’t build a supply chain tomorrow,” Lowe said. “We’re working on it and I think we’ll get there.”
Earls restaurants began serving Canadian beef again June 1.
When asked if hormones should be banned in Canadian beef, Lowe said the Alberta Beef Producers’ mission is to promote the industry and ensure it is represented in the public and political spheres as much as possible and not to govern what a cattle producer can and cannot do.
Part of the reason beef is relatively cheap, Lowe said, is because of science.
Harmony Beef CEO Rich Vesta said a beef liver today trades at about 50 cents per pound while the liver of a hormone and antibiotic-free animal brings in about $5 to $6 a pound.
By 2050, Lowe said the world’s food supply is expected to increase by about 30 per cent but is also expected to do so without an increased carbon footprint on that food.
“You can’t do that without science,” he said.
