The biggest quick-service dining chain on the planet is set to use southwestern Ontario as the global test market for its first foray into Beyond Meat. McDonald’s announced Thursday it will run a 12-week test for a plant-based burger it calls the “P.L.T.” exclusively at 28 restaurants in the region starting Monday. “This test allows […] Read more
Ontario to host global test for McDonald’s pulseburger
Harvest restarts in Alberta, late progress seen in all regions
Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of September 17
Reading Time: 5 minutes Harvest operations have resumed in most parts of the province, thanks to warmer and windy conditions. However, progress has been slow, due to some shower activities bringing from less than one mm of rain in the eastern and southern parts of the province to upwards of 30 mm in some areas in the Peace Region. […] Read more
Tim Hortons retreats from Beyond
Tim Hortons is dialing back its Beyond Meat marketing in Canada and will keep the plant-based meat substitute on its sandwich menus in Ontario and British Columbia alone. The coffee-and-donut chain, an arm of Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International and Canada’s biggest fast-food chain by number of outlets, first test-marketed breakfast sandwiches with the U.S. company’s […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Pea harvest nearly complete
MarketsFarm — Canada’s pea crop is almost totally off the fields, but quality remains a question. “Farmers are wrapped up with harvesting right now, so we haven’t received many samples,” said Marcos Mosnaim of Globeways Inc. in Missisauga. The few samples the company has seen have shown good conditions, but it’s not a large enough […] Read more
Wet weather slows harvest progress across Alberta
Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of September 10
Reading Time: 5 minutes Wet weather late last week has slowed down harvesting in most areas across the province and particularly in the North East and North West Regions. Precipitation has been variable, ranging from less than 5 mm in some parts of the Peace Region, to 30-40 mm in the North East and more than 40 mm in […] Read more
Worst-case no-deal Brexit plan warns of food shortages
London | Reuters — The British government’s plans for a no-deal Brexit warn of severe disruption to cross-Channel routes, affecting the supply of medicines and certain types of fresh foods, and say that protests and counter-protests will take place across the country, accompanied by a possible rise in public disorder. The “Operation Yellowhammer” worst-case assumptions […] Read more
Big Ag wants a cut of booming fake-meat market
Winnipeg/Chicago | Reuters — Bunge, one the world’s biggest grain traders, recently disclosed the 1.6 per cent stake it had purchased in the fast-growing fake-meat startup Beyond Meat. The play looked smart after the stock surged more than 250 per cent since the faux burger and sausage maker’s initial public offering in May. Indeed, Beyond […] Read more
StatsCan confirms record-large canola ending stocks
MarketsFarm — Canadian canola ending stocks hit a new record for the 2018-19 crop year, according to updated data Statistics Canada released Friday. Canadian canola stocks as of July 31 came in at 3.9 million tonnes, up by 55 per cent on the year and about 800,000 tonnes above the previous record set in July […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Harvest weighs on Saskatchewan bids
MarketsFarm — Seasonal harvest pressure may be weighing on pea and lentil bids in Western Canada — but rain delays could lead to quality premiums down the road. Large green lentils delivered to the plant are currently trading at around 20 cents/lb. at the high end, with red lentils topping out at 16 cents/lb. delivered, […] Read more
StatsCan confirms smaller canola crop
MarketsFarm — Statistics Canada’s first production estimates for the 2019-20 crop, released Wednesday, were generally in line with expectations, although upward revisions are likely in subsequent reports. The agency’s production of principal field crops report was “bang on with expectations across the board,” according to Ken Ball of PI Financial in Winnipeg. While both the […] Read more