Our July Issue

HYLIFE AND BEEKEEPER: THE EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION PLATFORM THAT SOFTENED THE COVID-19 BLOW Farmers Will Need More Support to Maximize the Rebound of the Ag Sector Survey Reveals Most Canadians Support Government Assistance for Agri-food Sector 2020 Red Meat Outlook Update: Supply Chain Disruptions Offset Strong Demand Consumer Concern Over Food Safety Highlights Potential for Digital Assurance Small Businesses Need our Support Now More than Ever

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July 2020

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CUSMA launch: What you need to know HyLife and BeeKeeper: The Employee Communication Platform that Softened the COVID-19 Blow Farmers Will Need More Support to Maximize the Rebound of the Ag Sector Survey Reveals Most Canadians Support Government Assistance for Agri-food Sector 2020 Red Meat Outlook Update: Supply Chain Disruptions Offset Strong

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Consumer Concern over Food Safety Highlights Potential for Digital Assurance D’Aoust Named Managing Director of Handtmann Canada Limited China Suspends Meat Imports From Various Origins Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Small Businesses Need our Support Now More than Ever

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July 2020 Volume 21 Number 1

PUBLISHER Ray Blumenfeld ray@meatbusiness.ca MANAGING EDITOR Scott Taylor publishing@meatbusiness.ca DIGITAL MEDIA EDITOR Cam Patterson cam@meatbusiness.ca CONTRIBUTING WRITERS James Bryan, Cam Patterson, Rachel Emmanuel, Anchal Sharma, Marilyn Braun-Pollon CREATIVE DIRECTOR Patrick Cairns Canadian Meat Business is published six times a year by We Communications West Inc.

CUSMA LAUNCH: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

By James Bryan, Senior Relationship Manager, Farm Credit Canada The Canada United States Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) came into force on July 1, 2020. It modernizes NAFTA and stands to benefit many sectors of the Canadian economy, including agriculture and agri-food. CUSMA secures gains in GDP of USD 5.1B, according to Global Affairs Canada. Trade concessions involve increased market access to Canada’s supply-managed sectors.

Benefits for Canadian agriculture and agri-food 1. STABILITY: CUSMA brings trade stability to the sector. The U.S. is the largest export market for both agriculture and agri-food exports, accounting for over 55% of Canadian agriculture and agri-food exports and nearly 50% of imports in 2019. Stability is one of the critical factors behind processors and exporter’s decisions to invest.

2. TRANSPARENCY: Dispute resolution mechanisms have been largely preserved. Disagreements are bound to emerge when you trade as much with a single partner country. Ensuring a fair and transparent process when trade disputes arise is an advantage.

3. COOPERATION: CUSMA establishes working groups on Agricultural Biotechnology and a Sanitary and Phytosanitary Committee to promote trade and science-based regulations.

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4. PROTECTION: CUSMA provisions involve increased protection for food companies on proprietary formulas and other confidential information.

The agreement also recognizes distinctive national products that cannot be produced out of their respective areas. These include products such as Canadian or Tennessee whiskey.

5. FACILITATION: Collecting information, documenting processes, etc. are costly export activities. CUSMA will cut red tape and modernize the documentation exports need to supply. Lower trade costs should boost exports.

CUSMA could raise competitive pressures in some agri-food markets U.S. estimates suggest an increase of $607 million CAD in exports to Canada, mainly in dairy and poultry industries. This would represent 2.69% of total dairy and poultry manufacturer’s gross sales in 2019. At the farm level, the milk equivalent tariff-free access for U.S. products will be an estimated 3.6% of domestic production after six years. CUSMA also involves thresholds for Canadian exports of skim milk products and calls for milk pricing reforms.

CUSMA market access rules are markedly different than NAFTA for chicken: Specific tariff-free tonnage replaces the previous rule calculating market access as a share of the previous year’s Canadian production.

While the industry has been preparing for the implementation of the trade deal, the increase in imports through CUSMA are likely to be noticed by supplymanaged sectors given it occurs at a time when consumption patterns have been significantly disrupted by the COVID-19 crisis.

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HYLIFE AND BEEKEEPER: THE EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION PLATFORM THAT SOFTENED THE COVID-19 BLOW By Cam Patterson According to Dennis Brewster, Learning and Development Manager at HyLife Foods, one of Canada’s top pork producers, the company embarked on a search for a comprehensive solution to improve communications among their diverse workforce.

DENNIS BREWSTER, LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT MANAGER AT HYLIFE FOODS

It was a tall order, and eventually they found BeeKeeper, a revolutionary employee focused mobile communications platform. Little did they know that only a few years later the world would come to a grinding halt while the COVID-19 virus spread at daunting speed. BeeKeeper would prove to be the key to real-time safety and health tips getting to their barns because producers had to keep working, putting their lives on the line, to keep Canada fed while the rest of us hunkered down.

Every human being, country, and industry has been impacted by the global pandemic, but in the early weeks of the first wave, it was the processing industry, and the pork industry in particular that took unprecedented damage. HyLife may be the exception to the rule, and according to Dennis Brewster, the realtime communication between office and barn site could be the solution that tip the company’s odds in their favour.

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CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS (CMB) CMB spoke with Dennis Brewster (DB) to discuss the mobile-first digital communication infrastructure which allowed HyLife to support and protect their workforce with a unified channel for up-to-date, real-time communications.

CMB: With respect to COVID-19, how did Beekeeper play such an important role for Hylife?

DB: Beekeeper has taken on a whole new role in our company due to the pandemic.

CMB: Did you implement this program before COVID-19 hit?

DB: Yes we did and that takes us back to the beginning.

The reason BeeKeeper was even on our radar, was because we are a company that has the majority of its employees on barn sites, and historically we had no real-time solution to sharing information internally.

Prior we had typically shared employee information via an intranet site that was accessible only when you were inside our network, or via company email, or by Cisco “Jabber” - which is basically an instant messaging app but by no way the solution we needed.

The only way we could communicate with our entire company was via payroll stuffers. Believe it or not we were actually mailing out payroll stubs to employees, so workforce communication typically was through good old fashioned mail. So, naturally, that is not timely when you’re in a situation where mission critical information needs to reach employees in as “real time” as possible.

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Some of our barn sites still have fax machines, which was one way to message, and from time to time we would put up posters for everything from health and safety tips and guidelines to company parades and picnics. Not the most expedient method. So we had a problem in that we couldn’t talk to our workforce in a timely manner and so we set out to alleviate that problem.

Oddly enough, the issue came up in one of our employment engagement surveys that we did several years ago. A common note from our workforce was that they often felt like they were getting second hand information by the time they received it. Essentially, if we had a request for the barn it typically had to go through a production manager, then to a barn manager, and finally to an employee and then all the way back up that cycle again. So things were getting lost in transition.

We looked around at a few different platform solutions and ultimately BeeKeeper was the product that won out. There were a couple of key reasons. One was our comfort level with BeeKeeper as well as the

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platform’s “Real-time In-Line Translation” feature.

It allows us to communicate with our employees in their first language. This was a big selling point for us being a company with such a diverse workforce.

CMB: This real time communication must have helped HyLife’s ability to provide up-to-date information when it came to working under a pandemic threat.

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DB: Well, there’s the fundamental shift. When we first launched BeeKeeper it was primarily a support mechanism to enhance our existing methods of communicating with our barn sites. But since COVID-19 hit it has become the main source of how HyLife shares all our internal information to our people. So there was a true flip insomuch as we still use those former methods of communicating, but now all that information lives on BeeKeeper first and foremost. Due to the COVID-19, it has become our employees’ go-to for where they can now login to their own account and get up-to-date, mission-critical and/ or safety information. This has been crucial during the pandemic.

As a result our staff engagement numbers which reflect how many employees are using BeeKeeper, went up significantly. It also aided greatly in bringing new employees on board as we recently saw when HyLife purchased Prime Pork from Taylor Corporation in Minnesota. It’s not small task to get a newly acquired company and their staff up to speed during a pandemic like what we’ve been going through, but we managed to get those new staff onboard with BeeKeeper in record time - even when considering the COVID-19 spread down there. Along with that, we’ve managed to have no cases of infection in any of our plants. I find that quite remarkable and I’m certain that real-time, back-and-forth communication played an integral role in our success.

CMB: Communication breakdown seemed to have a played a role in the spread of the virus in some processing plants in Canada. Sounds like HyLife fared well overall.

DB: Our entire HyLife workforce and their communities have done a phenomenal job during COVID-19. We all know the pork sector - and meat sector overall has been devastated by COVID-19. That said, HyLife 8 8

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was quick to react and worked to get out in front of the pandemic. For example, our processing plant in Neepawa is are a very close-knit community and they have done a fantastic job working together with HyLife to ensure everyone’s safety. We have not had a single case of COVID at our Neepawa plant through this whole event. They rigorously carried out daily health checks and practiced strict social distancing. Through this we shared tips and heathy and safety information, all of which goes out over BeeKeeper in real-time. But, honestly, it was our Neepawa workforce that really jumped on it and stuck to it. It didn’t matter if it came down to family members having to isolate together, or people car-pooling together, they were diligent. At the onset of the pandemic we even had people who were visiting family overseas and when they came back they were taken care of immediately, whether it was sequestered in hotels, it didn’t matter. They did an absolutely amazing job. I mean that wouldn’t have worked if only a portion of the workforce took the threat seriously. But they all heeded the called and took those necessary steps. So, as of today, I can confidently say we have had no positive cases of COVID-19 at our Neepawa plant. I couldn’t be more proud of what I saw among out team.

CMB: Do you think that is a result of both HyLife’s approach to employee communication and awareness, as well as being in Manitoba, which holds some of the lowest numbers on record for the pandemic globally.

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DB: Definitely because of both. I think our employees really stepped up to the plate, and were COVID responsible outside of work. Our leadership was serious and committed to educating staff and doing daily health checks - which they continue to do even now. But we can’t overlook the logistical advantage here because Neepawa is a remote town. In all likelihood if all those factors had not played into it, I’m sure the scenario would have been quite different. But the effort from everyone would’ve been the same.

CMB: So what does it mean going forward for HyLife and the BeeKeeper platform?

is they’ve rolled that translation feature into chats. So you could have 10 different real-time conversations with 10 different people in 10 different languages and no one participating in that chat thread would know the difference because it’s real-time, in-line translation.

That has improved not only daily communication, saving us countless hours of down time while eliminating that “second-hand” information problem, but our frequency and accuracy of our engagement surveys, which is invaluable for our industry, has improved 10-fold going forward.

What I like telling our workforce is that BeeKeeper is like picking up the Saturday paper. Everybody reaches for a different section, everybody is interested in different things, but there is not one employee at HyLife that can say, “I don’t have access to this information right now.” And when it came to rolling out health and safety tips during the pandemic, this was a game changer.

DB: First of all, BeeKeeper will continue to grow with us. Secondly, it’s not just tantamount to the COVID-19 experience.

Regardless of how diligently we adhere to bio-security protocols, the pork industry has had its fair share of viral setbacks with PEDv and ASF to name a few. So it is quite difficult to always be out in front of the next viral infection threat, and keeping our people informed, prepared and coordinated in our efforts to mitigate infections to our herds.

So we have to commit to going down that trail of continuing to educate our workforce on how they can better use this BeeKeeper app to communicate with our employees.

And that brings me back to why BeeKeeper’s real time translation was such a huge winner for us, especially with the addition of Prime Pork and the number of Spanish speaking staff we have there, because we have such a wide range of languages. What BeeKeeper has actually done that was groundbreaking,

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FARMERS WILL NEED MORE SUPPORT TO MAXIMIZE THE REBOUND OF THE AG SECTOR By Rachel Emmanuel, iPolitics Industry representatives and a federal opposition critic on agriculture issues say the government is missing an opportunity to use the agriculture and agri-food industry to drive Canada’s post-COVID-19 economic recovery by not prioritizing the sector.

The comments come months into the global coronavirus pandemic which has devastated the agriculture sector, with dairy and egg farmers forced to toss products, livestock producers culling herds, and many farmers taking on debt while asking for more access to emergency federal funding outside of loans.

Canada’s GDP in 2015, accounting for 2.6 per cent of total GDP. Farm groups have long been calling on the government to address their needs amid the COVID-19 crises, with requests for more emergency funding, a call to fix Business Risk Management (BRM) programs which farmers have long complained don’t meet their needs, and a renewed request to axe the carbon tax for grain drying costs. In May, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced $252 million in federal support for the agriculture sector, less than 10 per cent of the $2.6 billion the CFA had said would be needed to respond to the pandemic.

Chris van den Heuvel, The second vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA)

Chris van den Heuvel, the second vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA), said the agriculture sector is uniquely positioned to address the COVID-19-induced economic downturn as a national industry, but is awaiting help from the federal government to reach its full potential.

“We’re incredibly well-positioned, but we need a government to stand up and say ‘We’re going to make the investment in agriculture, we’re going to put it to the forefront,’” van den Heuvel said. “And that’s what we haven’t seen to date.”

According to Statistics Canada, the agriculture and agrifood manufacturing sector contributed $49 billion to 10 10

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Marilyn Braun-Pollon, the vice-president of Prairie and Agri-business at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), said the federal response has fallen short, pointing to a May survey by CFIB that found that only 29 per cent of farmers say the $252 million in federal emergency funding will be helpful for their business. The survey also found that 48 per cent of farmers are worried about debt and another 40 per cent of agri-business owners were worried the “new normal” will threaten the sustainability of their business.

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THE BEST DEFE A STRONG OFFE

Reiterating comments she made to the House agriculture committee last month, Braun-Pollon said farmers are looking to the feds for additional emergency relief, to improve BRM programs, exempt farming propane, nature gas, and aviation fuel used for farming activities from the carbon tax, reducing red tape on interprovincial restrictions, and focusing on trade and market access for all Canadian agri-food products.

“For the agriculture sector, any of that will have to involve conversation with provinces,” he said, specifically noting that there’s ongoing PROMOTING THE HEALTH BENEFITS conversations with provinces on BRM programs, which are a joint effort.

By Ronnie P. Cons

“Much, much more needs to be done,” she said in an interview with iPolitics. “There’s lots of things that the government can, and the government should do.”

The COVID-19 crisis has created also created new demands, van den Heuvel said, adding that farmers have faced shortages of necessary personal protective equipment as well as labour – piling onto the already existing issues of needing to build on export and manufacturing capacity. He also said the government has yet to act meaningfully on the Dominic Barton report, released in February 2017 by the Advisory Council on Economic Growth, which found that Canada’s agri-food sector “has great potential” and could export up to $75 billion worth of products by 2025.

With proper investments and concrete policy actions, the report said Canada could increase Canada’s annual agri-food exports by US$30 billion over the next five to ten years, equivalent to nearly 2 percent of 2017’s GDP, and increase Canada’s share of global agricultural exports to 8 percent, from 5.7 percent to become the world’s second-largest agricultural exporter after the U.S. The report also pointed out that global demand for food products is expected to increase by 70 per cent by 2050, saying Canada must work to build its brand as a trusted source of food.

Jean-Sébastien Comeau, the press secretary for Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, said the government is working to make long-term, meaningful changes for the industry. He pointed to the $200 million for the Canadian Dairy Commission as a permanent change to address volatile market conditions, as well as the Farm Credit Canada’s increased lending capacity of $5 billion through Farm Credit Canada, saying “[It’s] here to stay.”

Comeau also said the federal government’s initial response was designed to keep people afloat through the pandemic, and now the attention will turn addressing specific sectors.

But MP wrongly and agriculture critic as John Barlow RedConservative meat is often portrayed being unhealthy. said the government’s lack of concrete actions following some in the media as unhealthy or not environmentally fr the release of the report in 2017 will make it more difficult to act now, pointing to have the various ways the Vegan, fish and on other non-meat diets been proposed as liver, 6 sector has been crippled by the pandemic. spinac healthier alternatives.

The result of this onslaught of negative meat messages has influenced many families to cut back on their meat and poultry Perceptions may and reality but “If you’re going intopurchases. [the pandemic] injured, you truth trumps Parents andto other take somemisinformation. more hits, you’re going be consumers that much want what is best for their health and that of their families. worse off,” he said.

They are also aware that a lot of false information is out there and as such, are open to scientific facts that can correct their For example, he pointed to farmers who were forced misconceptions.

to cull herds when they were to get their This provides an opportunity for unable retail meat departments product processed amid COVID-19 outbreaks that to implement an instore ‘Healthy Meat Facts’ nutritional delayed operations, saying ittheir will take campaignmeat to setprocessing the record straight and convince customers that meat and poultry are actually good for one’s livestock farmers a long time to rebuild their numbers. health and that they should increase rather than decrease He said livestock productions still haven’t recovered their purchases of it. The campaign outlined below can have after farmers cut production to respond to beef bans a direct impact on sales: from Mexico and the U.S. when bovine spongiform Start by displaying(BSE), instoreknown posterscommonly promoting as themad nutritional encephalopathy value of meat. They should be innovative, eye catching and cow disease, was found on a Canadian farm in 2003. be designed to specifically contradict any meat myths. The Statistics reports farm income fell to research its lowest commentsCanada should all be literature based quoting level in or three that year, dueVarious in partposters to the mad papers MDsyears for maximum effect. should be made - each with a brief but powerful message covering cow crisis. one theme.

Posters can convey the following healthy meat fact messages: 1. Let’s IRON out the Truth on Meat!

“You would need to eat a massive amount of spinach to equal (the iron content) in a steak,” says Christopher Golden, an ecologist and epidemiologist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (As quoted by nature.com in the article ‘Brain food- clever eating’.)

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SURVEY REVEALS MOST CANADIANS SUPPORT GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE FOR AGRI-FOOD SECTOR NINE OUT OF 10 CANADIANS SUPPORT GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE FOR THE AGRI-FOOD SECTOR, SUGGESTS A NEW SURVEY BY GRASSROOTS PUBLIC AFFAIRS

By Rachel Emmanuel and Anchal Sharma, iPolitics million went to food processors for personal protective equipment for workers and to upgrade facilities to better promote current public health recommendations, $50 million went to a purchase program for surplus food, and the remaining $125 million topped up the existing AgriRecovery program.

AGRICULTURE AND AGRI-FOOD MINISTER MARIE-CLAUDE BIBEAU A recent survey was directed at over 1,000 Canadians online and analyzed their opinions on agriculture, food security and the Canadian food industry as a whole.

Over 90 per cent of participants said they agreed with a question asking whether the government should prioritize the agricultural sector with regards to financial support, Farmtario reported.

However, the package fell far short of the $2.6 billion the Canadian Federation of Agriculture estimated would be needed, and it was heavily criticized by opposition parties and industry groups, who continue to call on federal Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister MarieClaude Bibeau to offer more support outside of loans.

When participants were asked which agri-food sector should be granted government subsidies to protect them from the impacts of foreign government decisions, fruits and vegetables ranked highest at 79 per cent, followed by grains, dairy, poultry, beef, aquaculture and pork.

The survey comes months into the COVID-19 pandemic in which farm groups have been asking the government for more support for the agriculture sector.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a $252-million aid package in May, of which $77.5 12 12

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2020 RED MEAT OUTLOOK UPDATE: SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTIONS OFFSET STRONG DEMAND

By James Bryan, Senior Relationship Manager, Farm Credit Canada

n February 2020, Farm Credit Canada (FCC) released its Red Meat Outlook, which identified five factors likely to impact profitability:

TABLE 1: COVID-19 PANDEMIC RESULTS IN DOWNWARD PRESSURES ON LIVESTOCK PRICES

* African Swine Fever’s disruption of livestock and meat markets * Trade tensions’ influence on agri-food markets Robust global and domestic red meat demand * U.S. growth in beef and pork production The global economic impact of coronavirus The first two months of 2020 were very positive for both the pork and beef sectors. Strong consumer demand in both the domestic and global markets and the reduced global supply of red meats due to ASF supported hog and cattle prices.

While coronavirus was on our radar as a major threat, we didn’t anticipate how big of a global disruptor it would be, negatively impacting both supply and demand for red meat.

COVID-19 caused a global recession. In North America, processing plant disruptions led to a backlog of animals and concerns about pork and beef availability at grocery stores. And confinement and the foodservice shutdown significantly weakened meat demand.

FCC’s revised forecasts show that prices will be down across most commodities compared to the five-year average and our initial forecast. It shows: Cattle fare better than hogs in our forecast.

Alberta fed cattle will be 12% lower than the five-year average, and feeder steers will be down 9%.

Market hogs are projected to be 13-15% below the fiveyear average, with isowean pricing down 26%.

Cattle and hog producers will continue to deal with soft prices for 2020.

The large supply and demand shifts introduced a massive swing in producer prices for cattle and hogs.

As a result, the average livestock prices for the first six months are generally lower than our January forecasts (Table 1). One exception was 550 lb. steers in Ontario, as disruptions were minimal in the Ontario market.

Downward price pressures led to negative margins for results for hog producers and cattle feeders.

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TRENDS TO WATCH FOR THE REST OF 2020

HOGS CATTLE BACKLOG DF:AND I don’t think being on the island has really impacted us negatively one way or the other. We’ve traveled a lot, met a lot of other farmers and livestock producers in other parts of Canada, and we all seem to have the same issues and same concerns.

CMB: I understand that your farm was the first in Atlantic Canada to be involved in the TESA program.

DF: Yes, I think we were the first farm

Processing have largely resumed eastfacilities of Ontario as far as I understand. their fullI’m operations, but higher not sure why thewith eastern wouldn’t have previously costs dueassociations to social distancing and other nominated anybody because there are health protocols within plants. But there many farms here on PEI doing every are still backlogs of hogs and cattle to as much as we are as to attain a process. bit The Canadian hog industry high level of sustainability. Anyway, appears to be on-track to process or we were very surprised when the PEI export the backlog of hogs in 2020.

Cattleman’s Association nominated our Conversely, farm.the massive backlog of Canadian cattle makes it very unlikely CMB: And then you were attending the for the industry to successfully work Canadian Beef conference in Calgary through and the you entire won.backlog by domestic processing or export in 2020.

DF: Yeah! That was a very nice moment

U.S. PRODUCTION

for us. But I don’t like to use the word win actually. However, being recognized for our commitment was a real honour. If you want to know the truth, it was a pretty humbling experience. As I said to CBC when they phoned me after the conference, I was just floored, really couldn’t believe it.

CMB: So now that you have been recognized, do you think that will draw more attention and garner more nominations out of Atlantic Canada The expected increase in red meat going forward?

production out of the U.S. appears to DF: Absolutely. We’ve gotten a lot have vanished.

U.S. beef production was of good press highlighting the island expectedcattle to increase in you’ll 2020see but industry. by I’m 1.2% positive is now expected toindrop 1.8%ofaccording more farms our neck the woods to the June WASDEnext report.

ThisI have change nominated year. And to give the Canadian Cattleman’s is a substantial turnaround fromAssociation the 5% recognition from for choosing a farm decline projected May due to afrom Prince Edward Island.

We are small faster recovery in processing capacity. players in the national beef industry and I think it was a real credit to their U.S. porkorganization production was expected to to recognize us. They increasetreated by 4.5% start of the and it all at thethe nominees royally year, andwas now production is expected a real class act. It was a wonderful to increase only 0.5%. The record-high experience.

U.S. hog June inventory is quite bearish for prices as profitability challenges in the first half of the year didn’t lead to a strong negative supply response from U.S. producers. meatbusiness.ca

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RE-OPENING OF ECONOMIES

North American economies are re-opening at various paces and will increase pork and beef demand.

However, proceed with caution. The U.S. is currently seeing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases across many populous states - and the effects of a possible second wave are unknown.

AFRICAN SWINE FEVER (ASF)

ASF is now present in 50 countries worldwide and supports prices as Canada produces more than twice as much pork than we consume domestically. Many countries limit imports from suppliers with ASF and China is a major export opportunity for Canadian pork.

Exports throughout the first five months of the year were 56% higher than for the same period last year.

FCC Ag Economics forecasts that the cow-calf sector would be near or slightly above break-even for 2020.

Losses are projected for feedlot operations throughout 2020. Profitability for hog farrow-to-finish operations is expected to be somewhat below break-even for the remainder of 2020, before regaining consistent profitability in 2021.

We don’t expect restaurant demand to return to preCOVID levels for an extended period. Yet the demand for red meat appears strong despite the retail inflation (YoY increases of 13.7% and 6.0% for beef and pork, respectively). Red meat inflation should ease, but COVID-19-related costs at the processing and retail levels are expected to keep inflation above average.

For more information, visit www.fcc-fac.ca

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NEW SURREY SLAUGHTERHOUSE CONSUMER CONCERN OVER FOOD SAFETY ‘WOULD OPEN DOOR’ TO HIGHLIGHTS POTENTIAL FOR DIGITAL ASSURANCE NEW BEEF MARKETS

Consumers are significantly more concerned about food “Food safety is still top of the agenda for consumers.

Proposed 30,000-square-foot abattoir in Cloverdale would B.C.’sresults largest seem such facility safety than environmental considerations, beef according However, the be survey to indicate that while to DNV GL’s ViewPoint survey.

A total of 4,500 food & beverage manufacturers and retailers may

By Amy Reid, Peace Arch News consumers fromA across the globe were asked about protecting consumers, so asinvested to not emit considerably odours. And whilein there is an operational federally licensed beef processing facility is in the works have 6,000-square-foot abattoir on the property can in Surrey,habits BC. their food purchasing and the results indicate a they are not 100% convinced thatnow, all it’s products are safe process a limited number of cattle.

“There’s a new building coming forward, a new abattoir, I strong preference for factors impacting the individual toonly consume,” says Joy Franks-Laing, Global Food & Chris Les is general manager of Meadow Valley Meats, that’s the French pronunciation of slaughterhouse,” consumer. Foodthink safety (55% of respondents) and health Beverage Manager in DNV GL-Business Assurance. the company behind the project. Meadow Valley Meats is said Councillor Mike Starchuk. “So Surrey will have a issues (53%) were regarded thanwill wider seeking a Canadian Food Inspection Agency license for newer facility withmore a betterimportant capacity so people have the proposed abattoir, to become a federally registered abilityas to environment not have to ship an(38%) animal to Alberta to have external factors,thesuch and social The survey highlighted a clear trust gap; unbranded meat establishment and expand the operation. This would it processed. The applications have gone through the aspects (35%). Agricultural and Food Sustainability Advisory Committee.” packaged food (69%)to did not carry the B.C.’s same weight of allow the meat products be transported beyond boundaries. trust as branded goods (85%).

However, there were The facility is proposed on a 25-acre property within the Wider issues such as theLand environment or184th social “Our focus isthat on trying to bring a more efficient, sustainable Agricultural Reserve at 5175 St. aspects, The planned indications digital solutions – such as QR codes that local product to the market, realizing we can do that now 30,000-square abattoir in Cloverdale would with the exception of wastefootand recycling, tend to process be of up show the individual history of a product – may offer a in a very limited sense,” said Les. “I caution people when to 100 head of cattle per day. less interest when consumers decide what to buy. While means build Only of consumers talking to to them andtrust. they say, ‘What19% a big plant, that’s going use QR According to a city report, that would make it larger than to go allow you to go mainstream.’

Well, yes, if you look rise to 65% there are geographical differences, often influenced codes on packaging regularly but this would any other processing facility in B.C.. But it would still be in the context of B.C., but this is still a very niche plant small context by industryor standards, to the largest meat if it was perceived to offer insight into a product’s origin by local legislation, recentcompared scandals, there and we’ll serve a niche industry for producers and for the plants in Alberta that process 3,000 heads of seems to be lessprocessing interest in issues such as reduced market.

It’s certainlyof notfood going safety to be a monstrosity of abeing plant met. and verification standards cattle per day. but it’ll be a big upgrade from the site currently.” greenhouse gasThe emissions (10%), human rights (13%) proposed facility would be fully enclosed and designed Continued on page 32 and animal welfare (16%), for example.

meatbusiness.ca

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https://www.tcextrade.com 100TH ISSUE | March/April July 2019 2020 CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS 1717

Consumers are even willing to pay more for products that they trust. If the product information is verified or if the product or manufacturer is certified to a food safety standard, 69% are willing to pay more.

Food safety certification is quite common at the manufacturer level. The survey suggests that there is a huge upside for the food industry in improving communication to consumers on food safety and other product characteristics.

NAL FOCUSES ON INDUSTRY WITH NEW RVICES IN CANADA

cases services for Canada’s growing and fast-changing

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“Blockchain-enabled digital assurance solutions such accredited International Association for Continuing asEducation DNV GL’sand My Training Story helps companies track andHACCP, share (IACET) site. Topics include the true story behind its product.

Access to product food safety and quality, GFSI benchmarked standards, characteristics is instant through engaging code regulations (including FSMA), foodan science, foodQR packaging, food microbiology and ISO standards.

Training modalities label on the packaging. Letting consumer explore proof eLearning, on-site, customized and enrolment. ofinclude food safety, origin and authenticity, for open example, Additionally, the website information aboutbuilding taking the mystery out ofincludes the product’s history, management system registrations for the food, consumer trust and confidence on the spot,”automotive, says Joy environmental, information security, medical devices, Franks-Laing. aerospace and chemical industries, as well as for Ontario drinking water programs.

Only 19% regularly use QR-codes but increases to 65% if Visit the new Canadian website at www.nsfcanada.ca to review the food perceived as access to product information on content safety services capabilities video, find a list of Canadian food experts, learn and authenticity. about upcoming events and global news releases, a question YesGroup_CanadianMeatBusiness-Qtr-pg.pdf 1 submit 2014-05-16 1:20:17 PMor read an FAQ.

SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS: Food safety is the primary concern for consumers: 85% trust branded products, 80% non-packaged products and 69% packaged unbranded products.

Consumers primarily want more information on food safety (55%) and health (53%).

Trust in information from brands is high: 90% trust packaged branded products, while only 64% trust unbranded products.

ABOUT DNV GL DNV GL is a world-leading certification body that helps businesses assure the performance of their organizations, products, people, facilities and supply chains through certification, verification, assessment and training services. DNV GL operates in more than 100 countries.

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For more information, visit https://www. dnvgl.com/assurance/viewpoint/viewpointsurveys/2020Q2/summary.html

D’AOUST NAMED MANAGING DIRECTOR OF HANDTMANN CANADA LIMITED

Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG, announced the appointment of Chris D'Aoust as the new Managing Director of its wholly owned subsidiary, Handtmann Canada Limited.

Chris took over his new role of the management of Handtmann Canada from Tom Kittle, on July 6, 2020. Mr. Kittle remains on the board of advisors for Handtmann Canada and continues as president of Handtmann, Inc. in the United States. The extensive cooperation between the Canadian and US entities will continue without interruption to ensure the

highest levels of cross-border support for Handtmann customers.

Chris is a resident of Guelph, Ontario. has senior level experience with such well-known companies as Sealed Air and Diversey. He has many years of experience leading service teams to all sectors of the food and beverage industry. Chris has been an active member with the Canadian Meat Council, the Ontario Dairy Council, Masterbrewers Association of the Americas and the Ontario Food Protection Association.

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CHINA SUSPENDS MEAT IMPORTS FROM VARIOUS ORIGINS AMID COVID-19 PANDEMIC China has banned meat imports from various processing plants in several countries in the past month, a customs document showed, as the global coronavirus pandemic hit the world’s top meats processors.

workers confirmed with COVID-19.

China most lately banned imports from a beef plant in Canada owned by Cargill Inc., and a pork processing plant in Germany run by Danish Crown, from June 28, according to a recently updated list on the website of the General Administration of Customs.

• China suspends imports from a beef plant in Várzea Grande, owned by Brazil’s Marfrig from June 27.

The move comes as COVID-19 infections have reached more than 12 million globally, with over 550,000​deaths.

China’s customs office had already suspended pork imports from a plant owned by German meat producer Toennies, and imports of poultry products from a plant owned by U.S.- based meat processor Tyson Inc. Imports of meat from three plants in Brazil also got banned over concerns about the novel coronavirus.

BELOW IS A FULL LIST OF PLANTS BANNED FROM EXPORTING MEATS TO CHINA IN JUNE: • A plant of German food company Tönnies Group that has been hit by the novel coronavirus suspends exports of pork products to China from June 17.

• Brazil’s JBS Aves Ltda plant suspends exports of poultry and products to China from June 26.

• Plant owned by Frigorífico Rioplatense S.A.I.C.I.F, one of Argentina’s leading beef processors, suspends exports of beef products to China from June 22.

• China suspends imports of pork products from a plant owned by Danisch Crown Fleisch GmbH, Germany, a subsidiary of Danish food processor Danish Crown from June 28.

• China suspends imports of poultry products from a plant of Brazil’s Companhia Minuano de Alimentos from June 28.

• China suspends imports of beef products from a plant in Canada owned by multi-national agriculture giant Cargill Inc from June 28.

• China suspends imports of pork products from plants owned by Dutch companies Van Rooi Meat B.V., VION Groenlo B.V., VION Boxtel B.V., and Westfort V.O.F from June 28.

• China suspends imports of frozen pork and products from Rosderra Irish Meats Group Ltd from June 20.

• China suspends imports of poultry products from a plant owned by U.S.-based meat processor Tyson Inc that has been hit by the novel coronavirus from June 21.

• Plant owned by Brazilian beef processor Agra suspends exports to China from June 17.

• Plant of Britain’s largest pork processor Tulip suspends exports of pork to China from June 17 after some 20 CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS 20

July 20204 March/April

2019 | 100TH ISSUE

Article courtesy of Reuters

https://www.cfib.ca 100TH ISSUE | March/April June 20192020 CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS 21 21

SMALL BUSINESSES NEED OUR SUPPORT NOW MORE THAN EVER By Marilyn Braun-Pollon COVID-19 walloped communities big and small across the country. As the shutters start coming off and reopening signs emerge, small businesses need you more than ever. When asked what message to put on a poster encouraging local shopping, one business owner said: “We survive with your support.” Another put it more bluntly: “buy local or bye local.” Others had variations on this theme: “Amazon doesn’t live here.”

Ideas like these from small business owners across Canada helped create the newly launched #SmallBusinessEveryDay campaign which will run from now through the fall. Collectively, individual actions like buying a cup of coffee or a cupcake, finding a local business online or ordering takeout can make a big difference to our neighborhoods, and more generally, to Canada’s economic recovery.

While the Amazons and Walmarts of the world are doing just fine, odds are your favorite restauranteur, retailer, hairdresser, drycleaner, tailor, or dress shop owner are not. Close to half of businesses saw revenue drops of over 70 per cent and many had no revenue at all for more than two months during the COVID crisis.

Many are still shut. “Overwhelming stress” continues to rank high on a long list of worries on our weekly 22 CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS 22

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COVID-19 business surveys. This week’s survey shows two-thirds are losing sleep over their business’ futures.

Agriculture was not immune to these challenges from COVID-19. The mandatory closure of restaurants and many other small businesses curbed demand for many agricultural products such as vegetables, potatoes and dairy products. Many products went to waste and farmers took it on the chin especially in the initial emergency phase of the pandemic.

There is no better time to support your local restaurants in your town or city. Many of us know how vital local businesses are to the survival of our communities especially in rural Canada. It’s time to put our money where our heart is.

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As customers, we see the new cleaning protocols and the friendly smiles welcoming us back. But behind the smiles, we know things are very far from normal for our favorite businesses. According to new survey data from Maru/Matchbox, close to half of Canadians personally know of a business in their community that has closed permanently due to COVID-19.

One of the bright spots for many business owners through this crisis had been their connection with customers, many of whom continued to show support as best they could with options like take out and curbside delivery. As businesses reopen, amplifying this support to keep them open is critical. Small businesses don’t exist to decorate our communities, they need sales to survive. This is an opportunity to check out a new business in your area and support your local butcher, local craft beer maker or winery, vegetable or fruit grower.

Another emerging bright spot is the parade of initiatives and incentives offered by big businesses, associations, and enterprising individuals across Canada to encourage local shopping. To make it easy for consumers to see all the great floats in this parade, we are featuring them on the Small Business Every Day landing page (www. smallbusinesseveryday.ca). Business owners will also

find free downloadable posters and other tools to encourage local shopping.

Most Canadians want to do more to support local businesses. It’s as simple as going for a walk to buy yourself a treat, ordering take-out or recommending a great business by word of mouth or online using #SmallBusinessEveryDay and any of the other great campaign hashtags. It’s not complicated, but it is critical. Small businesses provide over half of the private sector jobs in Canada, support kids sports teams and make our neighborhoods fun destinations. Will you help them survive and thrive?

Marilyn Braun-Pollon is the Vice-President of Western Canada & Agri-business for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). CFIB has 110,000 small and medium-sized member businesses (7,200 agri-business members) across Canada. To find out more about how to support local business go to www. smallbusinesseveryday.ca. CFIB would like to thank Scotiabank, eBay Canada, Chase Merchant Services, Maru/Matchbox, Facebook and Interac Corp for helping make the campaign possible.

Marilyn Braun-Pollon The vice-president of Prairie and Agri-business at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB

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https://www.yesgroup.ca

201 Don Park Road Unit 1, Markham, Ontario, L3R 1C2 Phone: 905-470-1135 1-800-465-3536 Fax: 905-470-8417 Website: www.yesgroup.ca email: sales@yesgroup.ca

Remco and The Yes Group Protecting your Customers

Remco products are colour-coded to help divide the production cycle into different zones.

By identifying these zones as different cleaning areas, the movement of bacteria around the production area can be blocked.

Our products were developed with the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) in mind.

No matter what colour-coding plan is implemented, Remco Products from The Yes Group provides significant added value at no additional cost. From scoops to squeegees, from brushes to shovels, we have the products and the colours to enhance any professional quality assurance program.

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