Calgary to get Beef Centre of Excellence

Ottawa contributing $3.8M to marketing, training facility

CALGARY — Canada’s beef industry will have a one-ofa-kind venue to show off its products to the world when a new Calgary facility opens its doors in early 2015.

The Canadian Beef Centre of Excellence is a partnership between the federal government and Canada Beef Inc., an independent national organization that works to market and promote the Canadian beef brand worldwide.

At the centre, chefs and butchers will test-market new products and showcase Canadian beef for international visitors, importers, distributors, restaurant owners and hoteliers. The facility will have a full commercial kitchen, a retail display case and a hosting and dining room.

It will also provide education, leadership, technical expertise and training aimed at helping small and mediumsized enterprises grow their export presence in emerging markets. Ranchers and beef processors wanting to learn about opportunities in markets like China, Japan, and Korea will be able to visit the centre for tips and advice.

On Tuesday, federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Michelle Rempel, federal minister of state for western economic diversification, announced a $3.8-million government contribution to the facility.

“This allows butchers and retailers from around the world to come, see the beef product right up front, give us an idea of what kind of cuts they’re looking for, how they want it trimmed, what kind of marbling they’re looking for, and all those different things,” Ritz said. “It’s going to be a huge opportunity to bring our world-class quality beef to the world.”

“It’s going to be a huge opportunity to bring our world-class quality beef to the world.” FEDERAL AGRICULTURE MINISTER GERRY RIT Z

Issues like BSE and the ongoing country-of-origin labelling dispute, or COOL, have proven how risky it can be for Canada’s beef industry to rely solely on the U.S. market. It is estimated that COOL alone — a U.S. rule that requires meat products sold in that country to be sorted, packaged and labelled separately depending on where the animal was born, raised and slaughtered — costs Canadian beef and pork exporters $1 billion annually.

Canada’s top export market for beef is still the United States, but the industry has been working hard to foster new customers — especially in emerging economies where growing numbers of middle-class consumers are driving greater demand for meat products.

Last month, a federal trade mission to China resulted in a deal that will allow Canadian bone-in beef from animals under 30 months of age into the country for the first time since the 2003 BSE crisis. The pending Canada-EU free trade agreement as well as the Canada-Korea trade deal will also open new opportunities for Canadian beef.

But Canada Beef Inc. president Rob Meijer said customers in these new markets may want their beef prepared a different way, or may require different information about how Canadian beef has prepared or processed. He said that’s where the Canadian Beef Centre of Excellence will come in.

“If I’m bringing in Japanese, Koreans, people from the Middle East, people from Mexico, we have to have people here who understand the cultural nuances,” Meijer said. “This centre’s going to allow us to educate, showcase, innovate, create, and at the end of the day, most importantly, provide a Canadian beef-eating experience that’s second to none.”

The centre is expected to be up and running by January 2015.