CNS Canada –– McDonald’s plans on using sustainable beef by 2016, and intends on sourcing at least part of it from Canadian producers. The fast food giant’s latest step toward sustainability is to define what exactly that means. Defining sustainability is important, according to a beef brand officer, because in some cases it’s something consumers […] Read more
Consumers want sustainable beef, but defining that may be murky
The new world of ‘sustainable’ beef
Rancher Cherie Copithorne-Barnes has dealt with the movers and the shakers in the sustainable beef movement – and they're not all the same
Reading Time: 5 minutes Who’s driving this bus? Amid ‘grocery wars,’ Jamie Oliver, ‘hormone free,’ Walmart, and a storm of related debate, this is the core question many producers and others in animal agriculture have about the new swath of expectations and ‘sustainability’ programs taking hold in the industry and the marketplace. One person with a unique, up-close perspective […] Read more
Clinging to old ways doesn’t work in a rapidly changing world
The beef industry needs to supply what consumers want, support innovation, and encourage new entrants
Reading Time: 3 minutes I’ve long said that the money in the beef industry comes from providing value as the customer defines it. That statement has several sides, of course. It means we value add, which is true. But it also came into play as consumers demanded beef labelled hormone and antibiotic free, local, grass fed, fresh or organic. […] Read more
A+W’s ‘better ingredients’ device yields improved sales
Burger-and-root-beer chain A+W’s bid to differentiate its food in a crowded Canadian market appears to have paid its way in increased sales through 2014. Releasing their year-end results Wednesday, Vancouver-based A+W Revenue Royalties Income Fund and A+W Food Services of Canada reported net income of $5.84 million on $318.37 million in sales from the 790 […] Read more
A+W tightens chicken supply requirements
Canada’s No. 2 burger chain, in the midst of a bid to carve out new market space for its beef and eggs, now plans to differentiate its chicken burgers and chicken strips in the same way. A+W Food Services on Monday announced the latest step in its “Our Ingredients Guarantee” campaign, pledging it will “only […] Read more
A+W pledges another ‘major ingredient change’ ahead
Canada’s second-biggest burger chain plans to follow up its new sourcing policies for beef and eggs with a third “major ingredient change,” due out next week. While releasing their results for the third quarter ending Sept. 7, A+W Revenue Royalties Income Fund and A+W Food Services of Canada said the ingredient change is set to […] Read more
BIXS open for business, but only a fraction of producers have signed up
Fewer than 1,000 producers have signed up for the cattle-tracking database, but officials say the revamped system is greatly improved
Reading Time: 4 minutes Fewer than 1,000 producers have signed up for the second go-round of a beleaguered cattle-tracking system — even though it’s free and designed to boost their bottom line. The Beef InfoXchange System (BIXS) is also intended to be the foundation for the “verified sustainable beef” initiative that McDonald’s is piloting in Canada. At the recent […] Read more
How to answer those tough agricultural questions from your urban neighbours
Farm advocate Cami Ryan says start by talking to family and friends, speak about your values as well as the facts, and tell a story
Reading Time: 3 minutes Ticked off by GM-free Cheerios and A&W trumpeting the beef in its burgers is hormone free? Then you’ll hate the Chipotle Scarecrow. The scarecrow is the hero in a Tim Burton-style animated video depicting a bleak smoke-spewing factory where caged cows are extruded into a “beef-ish” product and robots inject chickens with a green liquid […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
