Meat Industry Canada

January/February 2010

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Guest Editorial:Canada’s Meat

Inspection Regulations

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Promising Analysis for Industry:Deloitte Food & Bev. ReportReducing Methane Emissions from Livestock

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Volume 9, Number 1 January/February 2010

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5 Guest Editorial by James Laws

6 Closing the Gap with U.S. Processors: Deloitte’s Canadian food and beverage report by Alan MacKenzie

10 Reducing Methane Emissions from Livestock by Sean McGinn and Debbie Lockrey-Wessel

14 From Meat to Machines: Ex-butcher shop owner finds windfall online by Alan MacKenzie

16 Beating BSE with Thermal Hydrolysis

18 Assembly Line

20 Old Country Quality Meets Next Generation Internet Services

22 Events Calendar

24 Cross Country News

26 Cutting Edge: Beef fabrication workshop by Alan MacKenzie

28 Leveraging Technology by Terry McCorriston

30 Industry Roundup

32 Building Brands: BIC Partners Program

38 Meat Industry Business Watch by James Sbrolla

January/February 2010 CanadianMeatBusiness 3 meatbusiness.ca

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| Guest Editorial |

PUBLISHER

Ray Blumenfeld [email protected]

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Alan MacKenzie [email protected]

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

James Laws, Sean McGinn, Debbie Lockrey-Wessel, Terry McCorriston, James Sbrolla

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Krista Kline

FINANCE

Jerry Butler

Canadian Meat Business is publishedsix times a year by We Communications West Inc.

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Printed in Canada.

ISSN 1715-6726

January/February 2010 Volume 9 Number 1

Canada’s Meat

Inspection Regulationsnhancing the competitive capability of the federally inspected Canadian packers

and processors of meat is an aim written right into the Canadian Meat Council (CMC) bylaws. A major meat exporter like Canada needs to be globally competitive – especially with the American meat industry to the south of us.

So, last year when our supplier members brought it to our attention that getting new packaging approved in Canada takes much longer than it does in Europe and the United States we knew we had to take action.

After carefully reviewing the issue, we officially requested that the Government of Canada repeal Section 92 (2) (b) of the Meat Inspection Regulations that requires “registration” with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency of all meat packaging and labelling materials that come into contact with meat.

This compulsory premarket registration of food packaging material used for meat products is another example of additional regulatory burden imposed on meat processors that is not faced by complete sectors of our grocery supplies, such as bakery goods, dairy products, cereals and spices.

In Canada, the safety of all materials used for packaging foods is already controlled under Division 23 of Part B of the Food and Drug Regulations of the Food and Drugs Act. More specifically, Section B.23.0001 prohibits the sale of foods in packages that may impart harmful substances to their contents. This regulatory requirement puts the onus on the food seller (manufacturer, distributor, etc.) to ensure that any packaging material that is used in the sale of food products will meet that requirement.

Considerable delays have been encountered by our meat industry before packaging material is “registered” and a letter of acceptance is received and the meat product can be marketed. Canadian meat processors

face unacceptable delays of six months to over two years for the approval of new packaging materials that our American and European competitors are not faced with.

In the U.S., government pre-market assessment of packaging materials for meat products is voluntary, and a simple procedure has been put in place that makes meat plants under federal inspection responsible for securing suppliers’ guaranties that packaging materials comply with federal food laws and regulations. Plants under federal inspection must obtain written guaranties stating that each material used in packaging meat or poultry products in the plant complies with federal food laws and regulations.

Letters of acceptance issued by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) are not required. Meat and poultry plants must maintain a file containing guaranties for all packaging materials in the plant. This file must be open to FSIS officials at all times.

The CMC met with government officials at the end of 2009 and presented them with concrete evidence of why we are asking the Government of Canada to change the regulations. We had with us samples of imported U.S. meat products sold at Canadian retailers in a can that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency had not yet approved for use in Canada by meat processors. They agreed with us that it made no sense that imported meat products could be “exempt” from our Canadian “registration” requirements.

Canada’s meat processing industry needs timely access to new packaging that provides better food safety protection, provides new resealable features for consumers, and is lighter but stronger and therefore cheaper for processors and better for our environment. Let’s get on with it and repeal Section 92 (2) (b) of Canada’s Meat Inspection Regulations.

James Laws is the executive director of the Canadian Meat Council.

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COMMUNICATIONS WEST INC.

January/February 2010 CanadianMeatBusiness � meatbusiness.ca

Report shows promising analysis for Canadian food and beverage industry.

U.S. ProcessorsClosing the Gap with

ccording to a report from Canadian consulting firm Deloitte, Canadian food and

beverage processors have closed a long-standing operating margin gap with their U.S. counterparts.

Benchmarking for Success 2009 is an in-depth analysis of food and beverage processors across North America that was prepared for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. This is the 11th edition of the report, but the first in seven years (it was previously released on an annual basis up to 2002).

Stephen Brown of Deloitte says the closing of the margin gap is

particularly surprising, given that when the previous report was written the Canadian dollar was trading at about 65 U.S. cents – compared to the 90 cent-to-parity levels we've experienced since 2008.

“The findings of this year’s study are encouraging for Canadian processors in that they have closed a long standing margin gap with their American counterparts,” says Brown. “This was also at a time when our dollar was working against that outcome for most companies. That was an additional hurdle, and I think the companies have done an

incredible job.”According to the report, Canadian

and American processors performed equally on EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) in 2008, at about 10 per cent of sales revenue – a substantial improvement from the seven per cent margin advantage enjoyed by the U.S. group in 2001.

Brown credits the increasingly global nature of the food and beverage industry and the resulting change to the retail landscape – including an increase of globalized companies, particularly Walmart and

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6 CanadianMeatBusiness January/February 2010 meatbusiness.ca

By Alan MacKenzie

Closing the Gap with

Costco, entering the grocery sector – for the smaller gap.

“(Grocery retailers) prefer to work with companies that can serve them in different geographies and at the scale they have come to expect,” he says.

Brown also notes an increase of consolidation has had a huge effect on the industry. According to the report there were 122 publicly traded food and beverage processors in North America in 2009 – a 17 per cent drop from 147 in 2002, despite total industry revenue increasing by nearly 50 per cent during that time. The decline was even more pronounced in Canada, where the number of these processors dropped nearly 30 per cent from 35 to 25. In comparison, there are currently 6,300 privately owned food and beverage processors operating in the U.S. and 1,050 in Canada.

Brown adds that compared to 2002, the report shows a higher concentration of grocery stores, but a smaller number of chains, with the top three grocery chains in the country – Loblaws, Sobeys and Metro – making up 60 per cent of grocery retail.

“Many private equity companies see food and beverage as an industry that provides good cash flow and constant returns. There is not too much volatility when the organizations are run well,” he says. “Private equity brings a discipline and a focus that’s driving these results to a degree.”

However, Brown notes that while closing the margin gap with the U.S. is good news, the bad news is that the industry as a whole is generally declining in profitability. He notes the decline – for both Canadian and American processors – was mostly a result of challenging economic conditions in the last year. In 2008, Canadian processors’ return on investment (ROI) fell from a 2006 high of 20 per cent to 14 per cent in 2008. U.S. processors saw a modest decrease of 17 per cent to 16 per cent over the same period.

“As the cost of raw materials, labour and other inputs have all risen, it is not surprising that processors on both sides of the border are reporting a decrease in profitability,” explains Brown. “However, rising costs are particularly problematic for Canadian processors as they have difficulty passing these increases on to Canada's powerful food retailers.”

The study also reveals the top performers in the U.S. are large

companies that enjoy significantly higher levels of profitability than the industry average, while in Canada the top performers tend to be much smaller and have less debt than their peers. When looking at sales growth rates, the Canadian companies that are growing the fastest are larger than the Canadian industry average, whereas in the U.S. the fastest-growing companies are smaller than their peers.

The meat sub-sectorCanadian meat processors

fared much better than their U.S. counterparts, the report also notes. Canadian companies saw a return on equity (ROE) of 13 per cent, compared to 10 per cent for the average of processors in all sectors; U.S. processors saw an alarming ROE of -9 per cent, compared to 17 per cent for “all processors.”

Brown compares the strength in the Canadian meat sub-sector to the performance of the top quartile of U.S. companies, which saw an increase of 57 per cent, compared to 17 per cent for their peers.


“This segment of the U.S. market is pulling way, way ahead of the rest of the pack. I see very interesting similarities between the Canadian meat sub-segment and those top performers in the U.S.,” he says, noting the success of these groups is partly due to where they are making investments – not in new facilities and equipment, but in innovation and research. He notes Maple Leaf Foods’ new $12 million innovation centre in Mississauga as an example. “What this does is give insight into the changing tastes of consumers, what you can do to add more value, and what you can do to strengthen your brand and drive pricing up.”

The report examines 76 food and beverage processors, of which approximately one-third are based in Canada – of these, five are from the meat sub-sector, including High Liner Foods, Maple Leaf Foods and Premium Brands (the remaining two were private companies that took part on the condition of anonymity). The average sales of these companies equals $1.5 billion annually. Also analyzed are seven U.S. processors with an average revenue of $7.5 billion annually.

According to Brown the meat sub-sector represents about 10 per cent of the total food and beverage industry in North America.

Global opportunityBrown says the increasingly global

nature of the supply chain needs to be looked at as an opportunity more than a challenge in order for Canadian companies to remain competitive in the current industry.

“The (Canadian food and beverage) industry needs to keep looking over its shoulder to see who and what is coming,” he says. “However, I think because of the concentration of retailers in our country and the performance the industry has demonstrated in the last few years, that we’re reasonably well positioned.”

Brown adds that Canadian producers can also benefit from the diversity of the domestic market to “get to know” certain demographics before entering foreign markets. He says that, coupled with Canada’s global reputation, could lead to success for Canadian companies around the world.

“I think generally Canada is viewed as being nice, friendly, safe and natural, which from a food

industry standpoint isn’t a bad set of attributes.”

Food safety reportThe report says food safety is a top

concern with consumers, noting that 83 per cent of consumers can name a product that was recalled due to safety concerns in the last two years; 76 per cent of consumers report they are more concerned today than they were five years ago about the food they eat; 57 per cent of consumers have stopped eating a particular product because it was permanently or temporarily recalled.

It also notes 50 per cent of Canadian survey respondents taking concrete measures towards improving food safety in 2008 – either working toward a recognized safety certification and/or process improvement.

Deloitte followed Benchmark for Success in January with another report titled Safe to move: Food safety risks are rising, it’s time for action, which more closely examines food safety and offers a holistic approach to the issue. That report says the requirements and benefits of superior food safety management extend far beyond onsite food plant and production measures and protocols.

“Companies that take a broad view of food safety management and supply chain integrity will have the most effective food safety programs,” says Brown. “The traditional view of food safety as a plant management responsibility is too narrow and does not take into account the cultural and other organizational considerations that drive food safety effectiveness.”

The report says executives recognize the importance of food safety, but lack a clear direction to deal with the issue.

“The reality is that food safety is a complex business challenge with many interrelated parts and the challenge grows more complex all the time,” Brown adds.

According to Safe to Move in order for companies across the food value chain to develop world-class food safety programs that will help mitigate food safety risks, they must develop a comprehensive strategy that involves the following steps:

1. Assess the company’s capabilities for preventing and responding to food safety threats.

This first step toward a comprehensive food safety program establishes whether current handling practices, business processes, and information systems meet the requirements for food safety, traceability, supply chain integrity and regulatory compliance. Even companies with mature food safety programs can benefit from a comprehensive assessment, which identifies capability gaps and helps set priorities for improvement. Once the improvement opportunities have been prioritized, a roadmap for change can be developed.

2. Build the governance, skills, processes and systems to improve food safety capabilities.

A more integrated and safer

� CanadianMeatBusiness January/February 2010 meatbusiness.ca

“Many private equity companies see food and beverage as an industry that provides good cash flow and constant returns. There is not too much volatility when the organizations are run well.”

– Stephen Brown, Deloitte

How to remain competitive in a global industry

approach may require fundamental cultural changes, as well as investments in enabling technologies and processes. Key activities might include: Making food safety a top management priority, defining a vision for improving the organization’s food safety capabilities, hiring experts coupled with training to support these resources, improving processes for crisis and incident management, and establishing an effective performance measurement framework.

3. Monitor risks and trends on a regular basis, adjusting the food safety program to address significant changes.

In this phase, the company assesses and improves the effectiveness of its food safety program on an ongoing basis. As new threats to food safety emerge, and as leading practices, standards, and regulatory requirements evolve, the company adjusts its food safety program to address the changes. This enables the organization to proactively identify and manage external risks and trends and improve internal performance and capabilities.

To obtain both Benchmarking for Success and Safe to Move, visit deloitte.com.

Here are three key success factors Deloitte says will help Canadian food and beverage processors remain competitive globally:

Aggressively manage costs Volatile input costs and currency

exchange rates, an increasingly cost-conscious consumer and competition with low-cost regions make cost containment more important than ever before. While Canadian companies have made tremendous progress closing the gap with their American counterparts, the playing field continues to expand with companies across the globe competing for the North American consumer dollar. The ability to offer competitively priced products is now more important than ever.

Take safety seriously Consider obtaining the

endorsement of a recognized food safety certification. Although, food

safety has historically been viewed as a cost of doing business, companies with trusted delivery capabilities will increasingly be able to leverage this advantage to create growth opportunities. In future years, these endorsements may become a requirement to serve the biggest customers.

Look for growth opportunities abroad

Although the U.S. is still the largest foreign market for Canadian processors, with an economy hit hard by the current economic downturn and rising calls for greater protection from foreign competition, the United States may not continue to be the reliable market it has previously been for Canadian food and beverage companies. Organizations that pursue growth beyond U.S. borders may well end up in a better competitive position than those that do not.


s concerns grow over global warming, there is an increasing need to find innovative solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).

To help achieve this, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) scientists at the Lethbridge Research Centre in Alberta are developing methane mitigation strategies that can be implemented on beef and dairy farms across Canada. These strategies will help farmers lower their greenhouse gas emissions through improved feed and livestock management systems and ultimately lower their feed costs.

Methane gas is a potent GHG produced in the rumen of cattle during the normal process of feed digestion and represents a significant loss of feed energy that increases feed costs. For example, a lactating dairy cow produces about 20 litres of methane for every kilogram of milk produced. These methane losses quickly add up. In one year, a dairy cow will produce enough methane to power a passenger car for 20,000 kilometers.

Dr. Karen Beauchemin is a livestock specialist with AAFC whose research supports one of the seven key research priorities at AAFC: enhancing environmental performance of the Canadian agricultural system. Dr. Beauchemin is finding ways to measure and curb methane gas emissions. She believes that since approximately 80 per cent of agricultural methane emissions come directly from cattle and sheep as a result of feed digestion and 20 per cent from manure storage and a small percentage from wetlands, agricultural methane emissions can be reduced through livestock feeding and management systems.

“We have conducted feeding trials to determine how the various diets can lower methane emissions from cows,” explains Dr. Beauchemin. The team used specialized instrumented rooms at the Lethbridge Research Centre to measure methane losses from the animals and also recorded effects of the various diets on milk and meat production and feed efficiency.

Feeding strategiesSo far, several feeding strategies show promise. For

example, increasing the level of dietary fat by feeding a diet of crushed oilseeds (sunflower seed, canola seed or flaxseed) or dried corn distillers grain reduced the energy lost as methane by up to 20 per cent. Similar reductions

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AAFC scientists are developing strategies to reduce potent greenhouse gasses in cattle farms.

Reducing Methane Emissions from

Livestock

By Sean McGinn and Debbie Lockrey-Wessel, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada


in methane were also seen when other fat sources, such as whole cottonseed, plant oils, and some ethanol byproducts were added to the diet. Overall methane was lowered by 5.5 percentage units for each percentage of crude fat added to the dietary dry matter.

Adding more grain in the ration also reduced methane emissions, although the risk of acidosis also increases. Diets based on corn grain, compared with barley grain, reduce methane emissions, as does feeding high quality forages such as corn silage and alfalfa. Ionophores, antimicrobials that target the ruminal bacterial population and increase production efficiency, also reduce methane emissions at least for a short time.

Feed additivesThe team is also examining feed additives, including

plant extracts (condensed tannins, saponins, essential oils) and rumen modifiers (yeast, bacterial direct fed microbials, and enzymes). In a recent study, they supplemented the cattle diet with commercial active dried yeast products including a new product selected on its ability to improve fibre digestion in the rumen. This combination was found to reduce methane by six per cent and demonstrates the possibility of developing yeast products to improve cattle digestion.

Other research teams in New Zealand and in Australia


are also exploring innovative ways of eliminating the microbes in the rumen that produce the methane, such as vaccines. This research is expected to lead to practical solutions that can be used to reduce methane from beef and dairy cattle in the future.

Feed conversion efficiencyBecause methane production increases as the animal

eats more feed, improving feed conversion efficiency, the amount of feed consumed per kilogram of milk produced or weight gained, decreases methane output. Diets that are more highly digestible lower the amount of methane

produced per day. It may also be possible to breed more efficient cattle that produce less methane. Researchers in Canada, Australia and New Zealand are currently evaluating methane production in beef and dairy cattle selected for high- versus low-feed conversion efficiency.

Management practicesManagement practices that reduce animal numbers on

beef and dairy farms also help reduce methane production. For example, improving reproductive performance of cows leads to fewer replacement heifers, which helps reduce methane emissions.

Holos softwareLivestock producers wanting to gain a better

understanding of the GHG emissions from their farms can use the Holos greenhouse gas calculator developed by AAFC (available at www.agr.gc.ca/science). Holos is a whole-farm modelling software program that estimates carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane emissions from rumen fermentation, manure management, cropping systems and energy use.

The program was designed to help farmers envision and test possible ways of reducing GHG emissions on their farms and is being evaluated by the Soil Conservation Council of Canada’s (SCCC) Taking Charge Teams across Canada. These teams, located in every province, will test the program by plugging in real data provided by farmers.

“At a time when the agricultural industry is under pressure to reduce its carbon-based emissions, this tool offers producers the opportunity to identify and set specific reduction goals,” says SCCC executive director Glen Shaw.

Funding for the evaluation of the software is provided by AAFC’s Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food (ACAAF) program through the Agriculture Council of Saskatchewan in cooperation with the industry councils who deliver ACAAF in the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, and Newfoundland and Labrador. “However, because we plan to conduct this testing program across Canada, it is open to funding partnerships with agencies throughout the country interested in evaluating the product in the field and extending it to producers,” says Shaw.

Timeline for development

Mitigation practice for the dairy industry Expected reduction in methane

Feeding oils and oilseedsHigher grain dietsUsing legumes rather than grasses Using corn silage or small grain silage rather than grass silage or grass hay LonophoresHerd management to reduce animal numbers Best management practices that increase milk production per cow

Immediate 5 – 20%5 – 10%5 – 15%5 – 10%5 – 10%5 – 20%5 – 20%

Rumen modifiers (yeast, enzymes, directly fed microbials)Plant extracts (tannins, saponins, oils)Animal selection for increased feed conversion efficiency

5 years 5 – 15%5 – 20%10 – 20%

VaccinesStrategies that alter rumen microbial populations

10 years 10 – 20%30 – 60%


The program allows farmers to select farm management practices that best describe their operation. It then allows the user to enter options that might reduce emissions and estimate how those options would affect whole-farm emissions.

“Livestock operations are complex ecosystems because of the various components that interact, including the soils, crops, feeds, animals and manure,” explains Dr. Beauchemin. On a typical beef or dairy farm methane from the animals and their manure accounts for more than half of GHG emissions, nitrous oxide from cropping and soils accounts about a third, and carbon dioxide from on-farm energy use accounts for the rest.

“It is important to ensure that a reduction in methane resonates throughout the farm to decrease total greenhouse gas emissions. In some instances, reducing methane emissions from cows can lead to an undesirable increase in the other greenhouse gases emitted by the farm.”

Of specific interest to livestock farmers is the large variety of farm operations examined in this software: beef cow-calf, beef feedlot, beef stocker or grasser, dairy, sheep – market lambs, sheep feedlot, swine, poultry and other animals.

“In a way, this program acts like a window, allowing users to look into the future, envision hypothetical scenarios, and look for those practices that best reduce emissions at their site before they are implemented,” says Dr. Henry

Janzen, an AAFC scientist who helped develop the Holos software. “Instead of an accounting or inventory tool that looks at the past and asks, ‘what were my emissions,’ the program helps farmers look into the future and ask ‘what if?’”

“Farmers can use the Holos program to see how changes to their feeding and livestock management systems affect their greenhouse gas emissions,” adds Dr. Beauchemin. “Farms are complex ecosystems, so it is important to ensure that a reduction in methane resonates throughout the farm to decrease total greenhouse gas emissions.”

The bottom lineThere are already a number of options for livestock

producers wanting to take advantage of methane reduction and more solutions are expected in the future (see table). The bottom line is that controlling the loss of feed energy as methane helps improve efficiency of cattle production and is an environmentally sound goal for the livestock industry. Ultimately these improvements also translate into economic savings for farmer.


Sean McGinn is a research scientist at AAFC’s Lethbridge Research Centre; Debbie Lockrey-Wessel is a communications advisor with AAFC.

“In some instances, reducing methane emissions from cows can lead to an undesirable increase in the other greenhouse gases emitted by the farm.”

– Dr. Karen Beauchemin, AAFC research scientist

Ex-butcher shop owner finds windfall online.

Machines From Meat to

n December 2008 Mike Winkelmann, a 19-year veteran of the meat industry, had to

declare bankruptcy on his high-end British Columbia butcher shop and deli after only two years in business. No one was more surprised than him when less than a year later he won an entrepreneurial business award.

When he opened his store in Surrey, B.C. in 2006, Winkelmann and his wife Joanne poured in their entire life savings and sold their home to get the retail/wholesale business up and running. After spending 15 years as a top seller for a large Vancouver-based meat supply company, he had the industry knowledge to make the business work – however, he didn’t expect the economic downturn that followed.

Soon the restaurants he supplied were closing their doors, retail customers were switching from porterhouse steaks to hamburgers,

and Winkelmann and his family were feeling the strain of operating a business in a tough economic climate.

“We’d be there 10 hours a day, every day,” Winkelmann says. “We have two small kids and every day they’d have to go to the butcher

shop after school because mom and dad were working late.”

When he had to sell his thousands of dollars worth of equipment – including grinders, band saws and sausage stuffers – he expected some loss when bringing them to the local auction houses. Then a friend suggested another option – selling the equipment on EBay, the

popular online auction site. Soon items were selling for more than he paid for them at the old-fashioned auctions, and he decided to turn this online venture into a business.

“The first item I sold was a vacuum sausage stuffer I bought at an auction years ago,” he explains. “I paid about $1,100 for this beautiful stuffer and when I closed the store it just sat there for a little while, until I decided to sell it on eBay. I started the bidding at 99 cents and it went up to $3,500 within seven days.”

He notes there were several bidders competing to buy the 1,000 lb. machine, and that some lost out by only about $100.

“If I had multiple machines I could have sold five or ten of them,” he says. “That was the breaking point when I started selling machines instead of meat.”

Soon Winkelmann, 35, began buying more equipment from other bankrupt businesses at auction

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Mike Winkelmann made over $150,000 selling used butcher equipment on EBay.

By Alan MacKenzie


“You have to have good product knowledge to do this – which I do.”

– Mike Winkelmann

January/February 2010 CanadianMeatBusiness 1� meatbusiness.ca

houses – but now solely to refurbish and re-sell the items on EBay.

“You have to have good product knowledge to do this – which I do,” he says, noting he has been in the meat business since he was 16 years old. “It’s all I’ve ever known.”

Within 10 months he made over $150,000 (U.S.), and last October eBay named Winkelmann the Comeback Entrepreneur of the Year, for which he was awarded $1,000 cash, $500 towards a business-related training course and $500 eBay AdCommerce advertising credits.

“It’s been wonderful,” he says, noting his win landed him in the pages of the Globe and Mail as well as national televised newscasts. “For a small-time butcher to get national exposure…it’s just been great.”

He notes there were some challenges in getting started, most notably the logistics of shipping large items over the border (95 per cent of his sales are to customers in the United States), building up a reputation, and the security of dealing with online payments.

However, he says he sorted out these issues quickly, noting that setting up a PayPal account made the security issues disappear.

“PayPal holds the money until the transaction is done and everyone’s happy,” he explains. “For a small

business, if you want to accept Visa, Mastercard, e-cheques and stuff like that, you’d have to go to a bank and open up a merchant account and invest some money in equipment. With PayPal they

handle all the transactions – and if they suspect that a transaction may be suspicious, they let me know and keep it until funds clear.”

Since he started this venture – which he calls West Coast Food Machines – Winkelmann has branched into restaurant equipment as well (and even into mobility equipment for handicapped people). He notes that he doesn’t see business slowing down any time soon.

“Because of the economic downturn, a lot of businesses that would normally buy brand new machines are looking for an alternative,” Winkelmann says.

He says some people may see his business as merely a way to profit from the misery of others, those who have lost their businesses – but Winkelmann doesn’t let that bother him because of where he came from.

“They’re bad times for other businesses, but I’ve been there, so I don’t feel too bad about it.”

“If I had multiple machines I could have sold five or ten of them. That was the breaking point when I started selling machines instead of meat.”

– Mike Winkelmann


New Canadian-made technology will be used to destroy BSE prions at a proposed $3�M Alberta biotech facility.

Thermal HydrolysisBeating BSE with

he Roslin Institute, a world-renowned research organization located in

Edinburgh, Scotland, announced in December that it has successfully completed a multi-year test of a new Canadian technology designed to destroy deadly infectious agents such as bovine spongiform enephalopathy (BSE) prions and microorganisms in livestock carcasses.

The thermal hydrolysis process, developed by Biosphere Technologies Inc, a private Alberta company, utilizes high temperature saturated steam and pressure to break down infectious materials. The fast cycling, two-hour process refines the raw materials into fatty acids, amino acids, minerals and other digestible elements, turning livestock carcasses into a molasses-like substance that Biosphere president

Erick Schmidt calls “liquid cow.” Schmidt says the technology

– which is certified by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) as an alternative for processing of SRM material – provides an environmentally beneficial alternative for carcass and organic waste disposal. But, he notes, it also has potential in the renewable energy sector and in creating a chemical-free organic fertilizer.

“When we started this about 14 years ago, no one even knew about prions,” he says, noting that Canada’s BSE crisis hit in 2003 – years after development of the technology began. Originally, he says, the focus was on creating a liquid fertilizer that could return the nutrients safely to the earth. “If it goes back into the soil that will reduce the use of more chemical

fertilizers. It will help restore and regenerate the fertility of the soil, the health of the soil.”

Schmidt adds that now that the process has passed a year-long peer review (results have been published in the scientific journal Process Biochemistry), the stage is now set for a commercial scale biorefining demonstration facility – the first of its kind anywhere in the world – to be built in Lacombe, Alta.

“We have patents issued in 18 countries around the world,” he says. “These people don’t want to see pilot plants anymore, because they’ve had those operating over the years. They want to see full scale commercial demonstration facilities – that’s where Lacombe comes in.”

He notes the location was chosen because it is in the center of the Edmonton-Calgary corridor, a major

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Proposed $35M biorefinery in Lacombe will be the first of it's kind in the world.


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SperlingIndustries Ltd.51 Station St, (Box 100) Sperling, MB Canada R0G 2M01-204-626-3401 or Fax 1-204-626-3252

Also: Brandon, MB 1-204-729-9190

2420 Z Street, Omaha, NE 68107 1-402-556-4070

“BOSS” equipment

Beating BSE with

region for diversified livestock production, with convenient access to international airports. It is also close to several important agriculture and research facilities in the area including: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lacombe Research Center, Olds College, the Brooks Crop Diversification Center, and several packing plants.

The facility will be designed to process a wide range of inedible animal by-products and carcass materials derived from meat processors and farm mortalities, servicing the cattle, horse, pork, elk, bison and poultry industries.

The Lacombe Biorefinery will also hydrolyze organic wet waste from commercial and household sources, providing additional feedstock for anaerobic digestion, the production of biogas, and co-generation of power and thermal energy. The facility will incorporate a Biorefinex processing pavilion, anaerobic digesters, biogas co-generation systems, greenhouse and visitor galleries.

“Seventy-five per cent of the Lacombe facility will be for commercial operation, and 25 per

cent will be for continuing research and development – so we can continue to find more and more value out of the inevitable part of an animal,” Schmidt says.

The estimated cost of the biorefinery is approximately $35

million – which Schmidt says will come from a mix of private and public sources. He expects approvals, financing, engineering and construction of the facility to take about two years.

Biosphere Technologies has engaged four industrial firms to begin engineering design and feasibility studies: Bearden Engineering Consultants of Red Deer, Gemini Corporation of Calgary, Norrie Engineering of Toronto, and All-Weld Company of Toronto.

A section of the plant will be designed for continuing research projects undertaken in collaboration with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Alberta Research Council, Olds College, and the Brooks Crop Diversification Center. These research activities will develop new value-added nutrient products from inedible animal by-products, with applications for organic food production, soil remediation and renewable energy from bio-methane.

Schmidt says that as more uses are found for what he calls “the inevitable part of an animal” the livestock industry will benefit economically. His hope is to get the industry back to where it was before the BSE crisis hit.

- staff

“Seventy-five per cent of the Lacombe facility will be for commercial operation, and 25 per cent will be for continuing research and development…”

– Erick Schmidt, Biosphere Technologies

1� CanadianMeatBusiness January/February 2010 meatbusiness.ca

| Assembly Line |

AssemblyLine is an opportunity for companies to feature new products for the meat producing, processing, packaging and distribution industry. To include information about your new product e-mail [email protected].

New Floor Drain Fixture from Allegro Built to Handle Heavy Rollovers

Floor drains in food processing and manufacturing facilities are a frequent source of unwanted microbial and bacteriological breeding grounds. They require constant attention to maintain plant sanitation up to corporate and regulatory standards for the production of safe wholesome food products. cleaning and scrubbing

the numerous floor drains in a processing plant that typically are 12” diameter having cast iron grates and bodies is a difficult and never ending task. As usually corrosion, pitting and cracking from years of use and exposure has occurred. It is difficult to ascertain the effectiveness of such cleaning as the drains are porous and dark in colour. The use of materials handling equipment such as fork lifts and power pallet transporters over time causes deflection of the floor drain

grates, and sometimes causes the entire drain body to sink into the floor. One of the major accident causes are material handling vehicles driving over badly deformed or broken floor drain grates, causing many plants to spend significant continuing amounts of maintenance funds to replace floor drains.

Allegro has designed a floor drain to correct these on-going problems. The Allegro floor drain fixture eliminates the usual causes for unsanitary and unsafe conditions existing even after extensive cleaning or drain body and grate replacements. The result is a drain fixture that looks and performs differently from other manufacturers’ products. The Allegro “All-Keen” drain assembly intended for use in food, pharmaceutical, and medical facilities where floor drain sanitation is a high priority and where floor drain fixtures subjected to frequent heavy rollover loads. The premium paid for the “All-Kleen” stainless steel drain fixture is negligible in the overall capital cost of a new food manufacturing or similar processing facility. The premium for floor drain replacement in existing buildings with “All-Kleen” drains is justified by reduced repair and maintenance costs in future years of operation.

The Allegro “All-Kleen” drain body and grate have been entirely fabricated from type 304L and 18/8 stainless steels to promote the possibilities of maintaining good sanitation; by reducing micro-organism contamination; and reducing surface bacterial load. The body and basket are fully welded to eliminate crevices. The stainless steel material used is not porous, nor coated, and is corrosion resistant allowing aggressive cleaning with brushes, chemicals, high temperature, and high pressure. The top grate and basket remove easily without tools and can be quickly re-assembled accurately. A robust stainless steel bar is used to form the perimeter collar to eliminate deformation during rollover loads as often happens with other stainless steel drains fabricated from thin sheet metal material. The fixture is firmly held in place in the concrete slab by anchors capable of being fixed to the concrete reinforcing rebar or mesh.

The design meets or exceeds UDSA and CFIA requirements for process area floor drains – 12” diameter free flowing with 4” diameter discharge, complete with internal debris basket and priming connection.

allegro-ind.com

New Self-Stacking Belt with NSF Certified Plastic Overlay

ExactaStack, Ashworth’s new exact drop-in replacement for existing self-stacking spirals, is now also available with its Advantage plastic overlay. Because Advantage is easy to clean, it is the market’s only plastic spiral belt that is NSF Certified for meat and poultry. The combination of ExactaStack and Advantage makes it the market’s first and only self-stacking spiral belt with plastic overlay providing a perfect solution for existing sticky product applications. Advantage has also been proven by ETL


Laboratories to have the greatest open area of all plastic spiral modular belting, making it a perfect solution for vertical airflow patterns in self-stacking spirals.

ExactaStack is available in all OEM’s widths, tier heights, and mesh configurations for both spliced-in sections and complete belt replacements. As an exact drop-in replacement, no system drive modifications are required. With every option available, including the Advantage overlay, Ashworth can provide the right belt for many specific production needs to increase capacity and minimize product damage.

ashworth.com

New Packaging Film Seals When Contaminated

The new IQF (individually quick frozen) food packaging film from Brentwood Plastics is a specially

formulated low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film that seals at low temperatures and maximum form/fill/seal speeds, even with contaminants such as blood, fats, ice, dairy products or dry powders present. It effectively eliminates channel leaks when used as a monolayer package or as a sealing layer in laminated stand-up pouches, and initiates seal at just 116°C (240°F).

IQF film can be corona treated for printing with water- or solvent-based inks.

brentwoodplastics.com

Soft-Edged, Hard-Working Bumper Guards

Knuffi Soft-Edged Bumper Guards, released by Dock Bumper Solutions (DBS), are designed to address safety issues in the workplace. Manufactured in Germany, the tough bumper guard offers countless protective safety and warning solutions for industrial and commercial use. The design features a highly visible black and yellow striped covering to warn of danger or restricted access. Knuffi functions as a guard for covering indoor and outdoor wall edges, doorways and stair edges. Vehicles such as lift trucks, mobile equipment and trailers can be effectively protected

by the new product, preventing costly equipment damage. One of its greatest benefits is that it can help reduce the number of head and knee injuries in the workplace, leading to heavy expenses and productivity loss.

Manufactured from tough, recyclable polyurethane foam, the Knuffi soft-edged bumper guard is a high quality product guaranteed for long life under stressful operating conditions. The patented manufacturing process prevents fading and colour deterioration, producing a product that is sustainable year after year. Knuffi is available in many standardized profiles. Quantity orders can be custom manufactured according to specification requests.

Installation is easy, enabling all employees to handle the process. Once the surface to be covered is thoroughly cleaned and grease free, the inner protective film is removed and applied to the desired surface. After installation, Knuffi is virtually maintenance free.

Knuffi is now readily available in Canada. It is supplied poly-bagged in standardized lengths with the five metre rolls providing the greatest value.

doksolutions.com

Evolis Introduces Badgy Card Printer to Canada

Evolis, a world leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of a comprehensive range of plastic card printing solutions has announced a new plastic card printer for the small- to mid-sized companies, associations and schools to easily and affordably design and print professional-quality plastic cards.

The company’s new Badgy printing solution is perfect for instantly creating, updating and/or replacing membership cards, ID/security cards, access control badges, gift cards, business cards, announcements, greetings, invitations, promotions, memo cards, luggage tags, and more.

Compact and elegantly designed, Badgy is simple to install and use. Hundreds of card templates are available at no charge, or customers can custom-design their own cards from scratch with Badgy’s free, easy-to-use software, adding logos, pictures, text and barcode. The card is then printed in just a few seconds with photo-quality resolution on durable PVC, at an incredibly low cost per card.

badgy.com


Piller’s praises Atira’s high-speed networking technology.Internet ServicesOld Country Quality Meets Next Generation

iller’s Sausages and Delicatessens Ltd. has built one of North America’s

largest premium deli meat brands with over 50 years dedication to quality, and the best of European culinary traditions. At the same time, the Ontario-based company has moved to the cutting edge of enterprise networking technology, with a high-speed business network based on Atria Networks’ gigabit fibre optic service.

Since December 2005, the company’s Waterloo headquarters and nearby distribution centre have been outfitted with Atria Networks’ high-speed fibre network service.

According to Scott Squires, Piller’s’ IT systems supervisor, the company’s management decided to switch to Atria’s high speed fibre network service for the head office nearly five years ago, shortly after he joined Piller’s as a systems analyst.

“Atria has provided our network service ever since shortly after I arrived here,” he says. “When I joined, the previous Internet service was still just a regular lower-speed connection.”

“The network speed and the price point Atria offered couldn’t be matched by any other service provider at that time, and soon after, we put Atria high speed fibre into the head office, and later into the distribution centre,” Squires adds.

Piller’s’ main goal, the promise of high network uptime and reliability, was satisfied as months and years passed with few or no glitches. “(The system) makes our lives easier, because the network’s much faster, and there’s essentially never been any downtime,” he notes.

The high-speed network connecting two of Piller’s’ Waterloo buildings, with servers in each building, allows seamless operation of financial apps for payroll, ordering and shipping (servers for these applications are housed in the head

office), and email and other apps in the second building. The company uses Voice Over IP for phone service between the two buildings.

On its website, Piller’s says, “All our facilities are fully networked with the most advanced high tech computer systems…As a result, we have the capability to manufacture all our products at any one of our facilities, so we can meet the demands of any customer, any request, any time of the year. At our warehouse, order picking uses bar code scanning technology in the racking system to find customer orders and send them to the conveyors for delivery to our

shipping area for the most efficient delivery system in the industry.”

Looking ahead, Squires regards staying at the leading edge in IT as an important part of Piller’s’ strategy to remain a food industry leader. He says he wants to extend the speed and reliability that Atria Networks’ service provides to Piller’s’ Waterloo corporate headquarters and distribution centre to their Brantford, Arthur and Toronto facilities.

“Network and IT technology is very important in our future plans,” says Squires.

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“Network and IT technology is very important in our future plans.”– Scott Squires, Piller’s Sausages and Delicatessens Ltd.

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Scott Squires, Piller's IT systems supervisor.

events calendar

Thefoodnewz is an on line events calendar created by Debra Bradshaw of Zep Food & Beverage Division. To find out more about the events listed in this magazine visit thefoodnewz.com. If you know of events not listed please email Debra directly at [email protected].

February 2010

16 -18Centre of the Plate Training PlusUniversity of GuelphGuelph, Ont.namp.com

24 - 25Ontario Cattlemen’s Association Annual General MeetingDoubletree International Plaza HotelToronto, Ont.cattle.guelph.on.ca

26 - 28OIMP 30th Annual Conference – The Meating Place,Sheraton Fallsview Hotel and Conference CenterNiagara Falls, Ont.oimp.ca

March 2010

7 - 9CRFA ShowToronto, Ont.crfa.ca/tradeshows

7 - 9American Meat Institute/Food Marketing InstituteAnnual Meat ConferenceOrlando, Floridameatconference.com

8 - 124th Annual Growing the Margins and 2nd Annual Canadian Farm and Food Biogas ConferencesLondon Convention CentreLondon, Ont.gtmconference.ca

18E. coli O157:H7 and Other Pathogens: Building an Integrated Food Safety System

The Drake Hotel Chicago, Illinoisnamp.com

19 - 21NAMP Meat Industry Management ConferenceThe Drake HotelChicago, Illinoisnamp.com

22 - 26Canadian Cattlemen’s Association Annual General MeetingSheraton OttawaOttawa, Ont.cattle.ca

April 2010

18 - 19ApExHalifax, N.S.crfa.ca/tradeshows

21 - 23SIAL CanadaMontreal, Que.sialcanada.com

29 - 30BC Foodservice ExpoVancouver, B.C.crfa.ca/tradeshows

May 2010

5 - 7Canadian Meat Council 90th Annual ConferenceFairmont Empress and Victoria Conference CentreVictoria, B.C.cmc-cvc.com

8 -13IFFA 2010Frankfurt, Germanyiffa.com

13 - 16Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA) Expo WestVancouver Convention and Exhibition CentreVancouver, B.C.chfa.ca/events/expowest

27 - 29B.C. Cattlemen’s Association Annual General MeetingCariboo Memorial Recreation CentreWilliams Lake, B.C.bccaagm.com

30 – June 1CIFST/AAFC ConferenceFairmont HotelWinnipeg, Man.cifst.ca

June 20106 - 8Canadian Poultry and Egg Processors Council 2010 ConventionSaskatoon, Sask.cpepc.ca

August 2010

1 - 4IAFP 2010 Annual MeetingAnaheim, Californiafoodprotection.org

October 2010

21 - 24Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA) Expo EastMetro Toronto Convention CentreToronto, Ont.chfa.ca/events/expoeast

28 - 31NAMP 2010 Outlook ConferenceThe Fairmont ScottsdaleScottsdale, Arizonanamp.com


| Events News |

Ontario Independent Meat Processors Celebrates 30th Anniversary at Meating Place

2010 marks the 30th anniversary of the Ontario Independent Meat Processors (OIMP).

“We enter the new decade as an association that is bigger and stronger than ever,” OIMP president Tony Facciolo said in a release. “With more voices and more collective experience behind us, we’re better equipped to help Ontario’s family-owned and operated meat processing and retail businesses meet the challenges they face now and in the years to come.”

The group said one of the major hurdles ahead is a demographic shift in the industry’s workforce. OIMP recently developed The Business Case for Training Investment in Ontario’s Meat Processing Sector, a document that sets out five goals for 2015 and provides seven recommendations to ensure the sector is ready for the future.

“Ensuring our people have the right skills is one of the keys to our sustainability and our future success,” said Facciolo. “With our workforce facing ever-increasing retirements over the next decade, we believe the only choice is to be proactive and prepare.”

OIMP’s anniversary celebrations began in the fall of 2009, with the distribution of 20,000 copies of the Ontario Finest Meat 2010 Calendar throughout the province. The association will mark the milestone at OIMP’s 30th Annual Conference – The Meating Place – in Niagara Falls, Feb. 26 to 28.

For more information, visit oimp.ca.

NAMP Management ConferenceThe North American Meat

Processors Association (NAMP) has released details for its 2010 Meat Industry Management Conference taking place at Chicago’s Drake Hotel March 19 to 21.

The event will feature over 25 presenters, six general sessions, 14 new forums on

five professional development tracks and a cutting demonstration featuring the new edition of NAMP’s popular Meat Buyer’s Guide.

NAMP is also hosting a value-added mini-conference on E. coli O157: H7 and other pathogens on March 18, the day before the conference gets underway. This mini-conference follows NAMP’s successful E. Coli conference held last August, which attracted over 190 participants. Featured speakers include Dr. James Marsden, NAMP senior science advisor; Dr. Dennis Burson, a professor and food safety specialist from the University of Nebraska; and Bobby Palesano, vice president of technical services of the International HACCP Alliance.

Other featured speakers include:• Dan Engeljohn, USDA’s Food Safety and

Inspection Service

• Richard Arsenault, Canadian Food Inspection Agency

• Robert de Valk, NAMP Canadian government affairs representative

This year’s keynote speaker is Sharon Lechter, co-author of the best-selling book Rich Dad, Poor Dad and the recently released Three Feet from Gold: Turn your Obstacles into Opportunities.

To register, visit namp.com.

CMC 90th Annual ConferenceThe Canadian Meat

Council (CMC), Canada’s national trade association of frederally inspected meat packers and processors, will hold its 90th annual

conference in Victoria, B.C. from May 5 to 7.The event will feature the CMC’s 3rd Annual Product

Tasting Reception, including a Tech Fair for members to display goods and services available to the meat industry.

A line-up of high profile speakers and presentations will be announced soon.

For more information, visit cmc-cvc.com.


| Cross Countr y News |

British ColumBia

CRFA Campaigns to Fight HST The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association

(CRFA) and the British Columbia Restaurant and Foodservices Association (BCRFA) have introduced a new campaign urging the province’s consumers to say ‘No’ to the new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) set to go into effect this summer.

The HST will result in a new seven per cent tax on restaurant meals, which are currently exempt from provincial sales tax in British Columbia, according to the CRFA. This will be in addition to the five per cent provincial sales tax B.C consumers already pay for dine-in or take-out meals.

The No Meal Tax site offers facts and figures on the impact of the tax on dining prices and potential job losses. It also connects visitors to an online petition addressed directly to the provincial and federal governments.

Foodservice employees will also raise awareness through an associated in-restaurant campaign.

“A new seven per cent meal tax will take a big bite out of customers’ wallets, employees’ wages and threatens our members’ livelihoods,” CRFA vice president Mark von Schellwitz said in a release. “We’re calling on consumers and industry staff to let their MPs and MLAs know they are against this unfair tax.”

According to the BCRFA, the restaurant and foodservice industry employs 173,000 people in the province.

A study commissioned by the group last year said 64 per cent of B.C. consumers favour exempting food in restaurants from this new tax. Awareness from the No Meal Tax campaign could bring that number higher.

“It’s not surprising that British Columbians are worried about how HST will affect them directly,” stated BCRFA president and CEO Ian Tostenson. “With so many jobs at stake, consumers are beginning to realize the domino effect HST would have on the economy and the $10 billion restaurant industry. The negative effects of a new meal tax would reverberate throughout the province as the impact on our sector will have a cascading effect on everyone from suppliers and vendors to their employees and to farmers.”

For more information on the campaign, visit nomealtax.ca.

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Fire at Edmonton Lilydale Plant A Lilydale plant in north Edmonton shut down Dec. 8 after a

fire broke out in a shed that houses compressors for refrigeration units.

According to media reports the damage to the plant was estimated at $500,000.

Three people – including a firefighter – were treated on scene for exposure to ammonia, reports said. One of the injured, a plant employee, was taken to hospital for smoke inhalation and later released.

At press time the cause of the fire was still unknown.According to Connie Smart, a spokesperson for Lilydale,

production was resumed at the plant Dec. 10 with “some constraints on capacity.”

The north Edmonton plant processes fresh and frozen turkey for the retail and food service market. Approximately 350

employees work at the facility, which is comprised of the plant and head offices.

Province to Drop Poultry Licensing Regulations

According to a new report from the Government of Saskatchewan, the province is working toward repealing its poultry licensing regulations.

The Red Tape Reduction Update says regulatory reform and modernization is a priority for the government as it will increase the competitiveness of the province's business environment and grow the economy.

According to the report, the province’s Ministry of Agriculture is working toward repealing the Saskatchewan Hatchery Regulations and the Saskatchewan Poultry Regulations, noting the two regulations “almost completely duplicate existing Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regulations.”

The report also notes that in May 2009, the Ministry of Health introduced the new Food Safety Regulations, which led to the consolidation of regulatory requirements for restaurants and food processing facilities. As a result the Public Eating Establishment Regulations, Bakeshop Regulations, 1986 and food safety provisions found in the Sanitation Regulations were all repealed.

Manitoba Cattle Producers Name New President at AGM

Canadian Meat Business recently attended the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association’s (MCPA) annual general meeting in Brandon, Man., where it was announced that Eddystone, Man.-based fourth generation cow/calf operator Jay Fox was elected as its new president.

Fox was elected to MCPA’s board of directors in 2005 and served as

vice president since 2008.The decision to elect a new president came after outgoing

president, Joe Bouchard, announced his resignation in October, due to increasing family and business commitments. Bouchard will remain active with the MCPA board in a lesser capacity and plans to assist Fox and the board during the transition period.

“I am honoured to have been able to serve the cattle industry as president of the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association this past year,” stated Bouchard. “While I am sad to be stepping down, I am confident in Jay Fox’s ability to lead the association and I look forward to seeing the board continue to move the industry forward.”

Bouchard was elected to the board in 2005, and was vice president in 2006 and 2007, and president in 2008.

Brandon Maple Leaf Employees Sign Foreign Language Aid ContractOn Jan. 4, employees at a Maple Leaf Consumer Foods hog

processing plant in Brandon voted for a new five-year contract

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that will aid foreign language employees.Seventy-eight per cent of 2,220 members working at the plant

voted in favour of the contract. According to local media reports approximately two-thirds of the plant’s employees are immigrants. The plant’s union held an information session on Jan. 3 in four languages – English, Spanish, Ukrainian and Mandarin — to give the diverse workforce the opportunity to hear about the collective agreement before voting.According to a press release from the United Food and

Commercial Workers local 832, members under the ‘Foreign Worker Nominee Program’ now have contract language that states the company will be responsible for processing all the necessary paperwork, provide translators whenever required by foreign workers and pay for the translation of the contract and the employee handbook if there are more than 100 members whose first language is not English.An expedited arbitration process was also introduced for

members under the ‘Foreign Worker Program’ if they have been terminated. These members will be allowed to stay in the province until the arbitrator’s award is received.Also, over 200 employees will move into higher paying

classifications under the new collective agreement. The union estimates the reclassification alone will pay an additional $450,000 per year to members.

| Cross Countr y News |

ontario

Province Passes Animal Health LegislationThe Ontario government announced new measures will

help prevent, detect and respond to animal diseases and other related health events.The Animal Health Act, 2009, was passed Dec. 8 by the

Ontario legislature. When proclaimed, the act will provide important tools to help support government and industry partners, including:• enabling the use of quarantine orders, surveillance zones

and animal health control area orders to help control the spread of any detected disease or hazard• supporting a future traceability framework for the quick

identification and control of disease and food safety hazards.The passage of the bill comes after consultation with industry

partners and the public on an animal health strategy for the province, which began in 2006. In the new year, the ministry plans to establish an ad hoc committee with representative industry partners, to guide development of initial regulations that will come under the bill.

PrinCe edward island

Beef Plant Denies Claims of Destroyed CarcassesPrince Edward Island-based Atlantic Beef Products Inc. said

allegations that the plant destroyed 125 beef carcasses because of a refrigeration malfunction are “completely unfounded.”The allegations were made during question period in the

provincial legislature in December.“The plant has never had any reason to dispose of carcasses,”

Jim Casey, chair of the board of ABP said in a release. “We take great pride in our quality control and operating standards.”

new BrunswiCk

Minister Issues Temporary Order for Chicken Processing SectorNew Brunswick Agriculture and Aquaculture Minister Ronald

Ouellette issued a temporary order stating that all chicken produced in the province must be processed at Nadeau Poultry Farm Ltd. in Saint-François-de-Madawaska – the only federally designated poultry plant in the province.In September 2009, New Brunswick poultry producer Groupe

Westco entered a partnership with Quebec-based packer Olymel to build a $30 million poultry slaughter and processing facility in Clair, N.B., after failed attempts to buy the Nadeau plant, which is owned by Ontario meat packer Maple Lodge Farms. Westco then announced it would divert its live chicken production from the Nadeau plant to Olymel’s slaughterhouses in Quebec for processing, which led to the layoff of 165 workers at the plant.The province said industry analysis suggests that requiring

chicken produced in the province to be processed at the Nadeau plant, will bring the facility back to a production level that will warrant the level of employment it had prior to the layoffs.Westco submitted a business proposal to Nadeau Maple

Lodge and the government to seek a temporary resolve, however Nadeau rejected it. The company called the ministerial order “illegal” and said it continues to “explore all available recourses.”

Workshop looks at increasing profits through innovative beef fabrication techniques.

EdgeCutting

eef processors can get up to $70 per animal more value out of their product by learning how to properly fabricate under-utilized cuts of meat,

according to Chris Calkins, a professor of animal science at the University of Nebraska.

“It’s a pretty significant opportunity to increase return and provide consumers with some really good product,” he says.

Calkins will be the keynote speaker at a one-day training session hosted by Olds College’s Meat Processing Program and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lacombe Research Centre this spring, titled The Cutting Edge: Innovative Beef Fabrication Techniques to Increase Profit. The program is geared toward processors, meat fabrication personnel, and merchandisers who are interested in capturing hidden value from beef carcasses. It takes place May 10 at the

Lacombe Research Centre. The cost for participants is $100.

Calkins will be bringing his experience with the Beef Value Cuts (BVC) program in the United States to the workshop. Calkins was one of the main researchers involved in the landmark muscle profiling study conducted by the University of Nebraska and the University of Florida in the late 1990s that led to the BVC program. The study looked at how to gain more understanding of low value primal cuts, specifically the chuck and the round – leading to the discovery of such cuts as flat iron, petite tender and ranch steak.

“The (BVC) program, quite honestly has added between $50 and $70 (U.S.) per animal in added value,” he says. “In 2002 the flat iron steak was not being cut in the U.S., and last year there was in excess of 94 million pounds of flat irons sold – and that’s just in the

BBy Alan MacKenzie


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The Cutting Edge meat fabrication course will be held at AAFC's Lacombe Reasearch Centre.

Conference AgendaMay 10, 2010

8:30 AM - Registration and refreshments

9:00 AM - Welcome and purpose of workshop

9:15 AM - “The Science of Meat – What is Quality?” – Dr. Mick Price

10:00 AM - “Development of Beef Value Cuts” – Dr. Chris Calkins

10:45 AM - Break

11:00 AM - Carcass breakdown demonstration – Chuck Pimm

12:00 Noon - Lunch featuring flat iron steak

1:00 PM - Shoulder clod demonstration

- Chuck roll demonstration

- Hip demonstration

2:30 PM - Innovative portion cutting presentation – Brad McLeod

3:30 PM - “Meat Preparation and Eating Quality” – Dr. Jennifer Aalhus


foodservice side, not even counting retail.”He adds that the flat iron steak, which comes from the

shoulder clod or top blade – is the second most tender cut in the beef carcass, next to the filet mignon – and, because it is a lower priced cut, it has become highly sought out by consumers. However, he notes the demand has led to an increase in price over time.

“Originally the term ‘value cuts’ was laid out to imply that there would be inexpensive cuts of meat, but since then the demand has grown and consumers have recognized the value, the price of that cut is now closer to what the properties would suggest it would be worth. Not necessarily a steal in price any more, but still good value for the money. It’s not tenderloin price by any stretch of the imagination,” he says.

“(The flat iron) has to be cut a certain way,” he explains. “It’s got a seam of connecting tissue running through it – top blade steaks typically leave that seam in there – but if you are innovative about how you take apart that part of the carcass, you come up with flat iron steaks.”

Participants in the workshop will enjoy flat iron steaks at lunch, Calkins says.

Along with Calkins, presenters at the workshop include University of Alberta livestock researcher Dr. Mick Price, Olds College lead instructor Brad McLeod, Chuck Primm of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Lacombe research scientist Dr. Jennifer Aalhus.

Calkins says the workshop will demonstrate why this development of beef value cuts is a “win-win-win” for individual producers, the industry and consumers.

“A lot of times you go to workshops and get the theory explained, but in this case we’ll actually be doing a number of demonstrations as well,” he explains. “There will be a number of resources available, so participants can come to this workshop and they can go home and start to do this right away. It has the potential to make an immediate impact on the bottom line.”

For more information on this workshop, contact Brad McLeod at [email protected] (403-556-4792).

“The (BVC) program, quite honestly has added between $50 and $70 (U.S.) per animal in added value.”

– Chris Calkins, University of Nebraska

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Flat iron steak.

By Terry McCorriston


Lilydale Inc. utilizes a business IT solution to optimally manage its business processes.

TechnologyLeveraging

ounded in Edmonton in 1940 when a group of farmers established the Alberta Poultry Producers Ltd., Edmonton-based Lilydale Inc.'s primary

business at its inception was providing eggs to Great Britain during World War II. With over 2,100 employees, today it is known as one of Canada’s leading poultry processors.

Widely recognized by its “It’s not just chicken, it’s Lilydale!” slogan, Lilydale has a reputation for providing premium quality food products throughout Canada. Operating six manufacturing facilities and three hatcheries in Western Canada, the company generates hundreds of products that are sold throughout the country at major retailers and food service outlets.

Lilydale is committed to offering Canadians safe, wholesome, premium quality meal solutions. The company prides itself on the diversity of its product lines, which include both fresh and further processed chicken and turkey. Under the guidance of the company’s research and development team, Lilydale keeps a finger on the pulse of the marketplace, creating new products to meet the ever-changing needs of consumers.

New requirements demand new solutions“At Lilydale, we enjoy an excellent reputation for

product quality and constantly strive to exceed customer expectations,” says Lilydale president and CEO Ed Rodenburg. By partnering with CSB-System, Lilydale is now

able to utilize a business IT solution that optimally manages their business processes.

Rodenburg said he is thankful the company has found the means to efficiently and effectively track the large amount of data that moves throughout their facilities. “We were seeking the best solution for managing our industry-specific processes through state-of-the-art technology in order to help us meet the everyday requirements of the poultry market,” he says. "With the fully-integrated turnkey CSB-System, we have found that solution and have been able to successfully eliminate our disparate legacy systems.”

Fast, efficient order fulfillment reduces expenses

With the Phase I implementation of the CSB-System solution currently completed at four of Lilydale plants (including their headquarters in Edmonton), Lilydale is confident the system was the right choice for an all-over sense of enhancement to their company. For example, orders can now be processed in a fast and efficient fashion.

Through touch-screen terminals and RF hand-held devices, products are labelled and scanned, and all data is captured and validated at the point of origin. Via the wireless network, mobile devices give employees easy access to all required picking data straight from their handhelds. All this, and the system is also very user-friendly. “Our employees enjoy working with the CSB-System due to

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Lilydale has a reputation for providing premium quality products in Canada.


its simple and easy-to-understand user interfaces,” says Rodenburg.

Process optimization via integrated solution

At Lilydale, the high degree of integration offered by CSB-System results in much-improved process efficiency.

Lilydale corporate controller Suzanne Young says that having access to all data in a centralized, real-time environment has allowed the organization to make decisions concerning production much faster than before.

“The CSB-System delivers all the detailed information we need for our business,” she explains. “Consolidating the

plants under one solution helped to reduce overhead costs and avoid redundancies.”

Efficient implementationOnce the CSB-system was in place at the company’s first

plant, the Lilydale team was largely able to introduce it at its other facilities.

Rodenburg says the rollout of the CSB-System was the smoothest of four similar projects that he has seen during his career. Lilydale project manager Juan Garcia agrees, adding that the mutual respect and confidence that flowed between both teams was a key factor. “Our relationship with the CSB-System team is built on trust and this is one of the core elements of our collective success.”

The first phase of the implementation addressed the following critical areas:

• Inventory management• Product identification and labelling• Sales and distribution• Financial accounting

The second phase will include the critical areas below:

• Production, cutting, product costing• Planning• Quality assurance• Maintenance and repair operations• Purchasing and receiving

Premium products through HACCPFood safety is top priority at every food company – and

it’s also something that CSB-System is supporting at Lilydale. Both Lilydale and CSB-System are committed to generating a real-time, accurate method of traceability.

Lilydale has strict food safety and product specifications in place as part of the Lilydale HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) Plan, which will eventually be incorporated into the CSB-System solution. This will inevitably facilitate Lilydale’s continuous growth and success within the poultry industry.

Terry McCorriston is CSB-System International’s director of business solutions.

“Consolidating the plants under one solution helped to reduce overhead costs and avoid redundancies.”

– Suzanne Young, Lilydale corporate controller

Maple Leaf Foods Announces Food Safety Advisory Council

Maple Leaf Foods recently announced the establishment of its Food Safety Advisory Council.

The council is made up of a team of independent experts the company said will increase its access to global knowledge and expertise in areas of food safety practices, microbiology, technology and public health.

The members are:• Dr. Harvey Anderson, director, Program in Food

Safety, Nutrition and Regulatory Affairs and Professor, Nutritional Sciences, Physiology and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto;

• Professor Colin Dennis, chairman, Industry Advisory Group, International Agri-Technology Centre Ltd, and retired Director- General of the Campden, BRI food research centre in the U.K.;

• Dr. Mansel Griffiths, director of the Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety and Chair of the Masters Program in Food Safety at the University of Guelph;

• Dr. R. Bruce Tompkin, a microbiologist with more than 45 years in the food processing industry and one of the developers of HACCP; and

• John Weisgerber, former Director of Quality for a major North American meat processor with nearly 40 years experience in quality and food safety management.

In its first year the council will focus on:• Performing ongoing critical reviews of the company’s

Food Safety Strategy that will include recommendations on additions or modifications to advance Maple Leaf’s programs;

• Providing insights on any global emerging food safety risks;

• Providing guidance on Maple Leaf’s employee training and education programs.

Costco Canada Launches Premium Beef Program

The Beef Information Centre (BIC) has partnered with Costco Canada to launch a premium beef program that features only Canada Prime beef.

According to the BIC, Canada Prime is the highest grade of beef Canada has to offer. Selected for most marbling, Canada Prime provides outstanding flavour, juiciness and tenderness. Less than two per cent of all Canadian graded beef in 2008 qualified to be of Canada Prime level.

Traditionally found at only the finest of restaurants, Costco’s Prime program is currently being tested in a number of strategically chosen Costco stores in Western Canada with plans to roll out to additional locations nationally over the next six months. Costco Canada has a long-standing commitment to Canadian AAA beef and is a market leader in the Canadian retail sector. All Costco outlets in Canada display the Canadian beef brand logo on-pack, and on the wall above the fresh meat case. With the new program in select Costco locations, the Canada Prime beef packages display the Prime designation in a specially designed logo, with the Canadian beef brand mark.

These initiatives, along with the new premium beef program, illustrate why Costco Canada leads the market in leveraging the value Canadian beef provides and

the positive image Canadian beef has with Canadian consumers.

As part of the new program, BIC worked with Costco to develop an information sheet for consumers, available at the meat case. This promotional sheet describes the attributes of Canada Prime and the exceptional eating experience consumers can expect from this premium product. The promo sheet also directs readers to BIC’s consumer website for recipes.

Reiser Opens New Customer Centre Reiser has opened a new state-of-the-industry customer centre at its Canton, Massachusetts headquarters.The 6,600 square foot expansion to the company’s existing building will be used to work with customers to test and develop new products and processes.The centre features a

customizable processing room with space to run individual machines or fully automated lines, as well as a full test kitchen for preparing, cooking and sampling finished product. The facility allows product to be processed under the same conditions found in most top-of-the-line meat plants in the industry. It also includes modern conference rooms for meetings and training, as well as comfortable work stations for visitors.Reiser’s full line of processing and packaging equipment can be tested at the centre, including:• Vemag – Stuffers, grinders, formers, fillers, portioners,

depositors, extruders, coextruders and dough dividers• Holac – Dicers, slicers, and cutting equipment• AMFEC – Mixers, blenders, tumblers, massagers, and

macerators• Fomaco – Injectors, tenderizers, brine mixers, and tanks• Seydelmann – Bowl cutters and choppers, mixers,

grinders, and mixing grinders• Ross – Tray sealers for case-ready and modified

atmosphere packaging• Repak – Horizontal form/fill/seal packaging machines• Supervac – Automatic vacuum chamber packaging

machines

reiser.com

NAMP Launches New Meat Buyer’s GuideThe North American Meat Processors Association

(NAMP) announced the launch of the revised edition of its Meat Buyer’s Guide, which will feature more information relevant to the Canadian meat industry than in past editions.

The comprehensive meat and poultry identification manual can be preordered now for delivery in March. All of its notebook charts and posters have been completely updated.

Since 1961, NAMP has authored the guide, which has been used as the premier resource publication the meat and poultry industry, foodservice purchasers, educators, and students. This new, sixth edition is endorsed by 20 industry and foodservice associations.

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In keeping with NAMP’s mission as a North American association, the scope of the new edition was broadened beyond the U.S. to include Canada and Mexico. Completely applicable to the Canadian meat trade, the new edition includes Canadian grading standards, terminology and cut descriptions, as well as updated language to reflect current USDA, CFIA and industry standards.

It also includes Mexican Spanish translations of all meat cut names for the Mexican meat trade and U.S. and Canadian Hispanic users.

Orders may be placed at namp.com.

BIC Launches E-newsletter The Beef Information Centre (BIC) has announced the

launch of an electronic version of their long established Beef up Your Business print newsletter.

For over 20 years, the Beef up Your Business newsletter has been delivering news and merchandising ideas on Canadian beef. The e-newsletter will continue to be a leading resource, offering interesting articles, technical information, links to free resources and foodservice recipes all relating to Canadian beef.

The e-newsletter will combine three previous publications and will provide information specific to the retail, foodservice and processing development market segments

To subscribe, visit canadianbeef.info.

Columbia to Reopen Market to Canadian Beef

According to federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz, Columbia will reopen its border to Canadian Beef. This announcement came as part of an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) press release that discussed the minister’s agricultural trade mission to Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala and the United States to create new market opportunities for Canadian farmers.

The process to reopen the Colombian market to Canadian beef began last spring when Ritz travelled to Colombia and secured a process to demonstrate the safety of Canadian beef, the release said. The Canadian Beef Export Federation estimates the market to be worth $6 million.

Meetings between Canada and Colombia resulted in a clear path forward to fully reopen the Colombian market to Canadian breeding stock and genetics. This process will resolve outstanding livestock certification issues. The Canadian Beef Breeds Council and the Canadian Livestock Genetics Association estimates the increased exports of cattle breeding stock and genetics will be worth $1 million.

The Colombian government also committed to working with Canadian officials to negotiate animal health conditions that would allow Canadian sheep and goat imports.

In Mexico, Ritz announced a $5 million investment to raise consumer awareness of Canada’s safe and top quality food. The Canada Brand initiative, part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, will drive promotional activities in Mexico for a wide range of Canadian products, including canola. Canadian agriculture exports to Mexico totaled

| Industr y Roundup |

$1.6 billion in 2008.In Guatemala, Ritz pressed for full beef market access

and duty free access for pork, beef and other agricultural products. He stressed the importance of a mutually beneficial free trade agreement between Canada, Guatemala and other Central American countries. In 2008, Guatemala imported $32 million of Canadian agriculture.

Minister Ritz also spoke at the State Agriculture and Rural Leaders Conference in Orlando, Florida about the Government of Canada’s clear opposition to country of origin labelling (COOL). He committed to maintaining a strong partnership built on the fairest conditions for farmers on both sides of the border, the release said.

Unipac Launches Redesigned WebsiteUnipac Packaging Products Ltd. has launched a

completely redesigned corporate website that features a new look and streamlined site navigation.

“We analyzed our site traffic, determined what our users are looking for and made the site more informative, and more user-friendly,” Unipac’s national sales manager Darren Smit said in a release.

The new website also offers an expanded product listing, along with information outlining news, employment and company contacts. The company is planning to add more specific product information in the coming months.

unipac.cc


ow that country of origin labelling (COOL) is a reality, U.S. retailers are leveraging the label requirements to build unique and

differentiated store brands using Canadian beef. For the past five years, the Beef Information Centre

(BIC) has worked with U.S. clients to build branded programs designed to meet the unique demands of individual retailers and their customers. Retailers recognize that development of private label and branded beef programs are key to profitability and that Canadian beef can deliver on the consistency and quality attributes required for a successful branded program.

“Under BIC’s Partners Program, we work with clients to build customized beef programs designed to deliver consistent quality and enhanced profitability,” says John Gillespie, BIC chairman and a feedlot operator at Ayr, Ont. “The target is regional retailers who, in order to stay competitive, are looking to develop a brand – a brand that can deliver specific desirable attributes for their market, every time, and at the volumes required.”

Canada is the largest supplier of grain fed beef to the United States with more than 300,000 tonnes exported each year. That preference demonstrates that Canadian beef has always met the demands of the U.S. market and enjoys a favourable reputation with American consumers. In a study of U.S. consumers done last fall, product identified as Canadian beef drew a strong response – when the U.S. consumer was asked if Canadian beef is a premium product, over 76 per cent agreed. The study also found that Canadian beef has a positive position in consumers’ minds – 59 per cent agreed with the statement that Canadian beef came from a wholesome, natural environment.

An example of one partnership involved Stauffers of Kissel Hill (SKH), an innovative retailer with eight stores in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania region. SKH wished to develop a brand that would be widely recognized and accepted in its market area, with attributes that could not be easily matched by the competition. The resulting program paired SKH with a Canadian packer to source a certified corn-fed, AAA grade Canadian beef program. The program is labeled “Stauffer’s Choice Beef” and the on-pack labels identify the beef as Product of Canada.

“The program has been extremely successful, with SKH reporting a strong double digit increase in meat department sales over the past two years,” says Gillespie.

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BIC Partners Program helps U.S. retailers discover it’s "COOL" to sell Canadian beef.

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Building

BrandsAccording to John Gerlach, SKH

meat manager, Canadian beef has answered their needs for the beef case. SKH shoppers have accepted the brand and its Canadian sourcing because the eating experience has consistently met or exceeded their expectations. This reinforces Gerlach’s belief that delivering great taste and eating experience every time goes long way to developing shopper loyalty.

Another success story is the partnership between the Panam Supermarkets, a Maryland-based retailer selling primarily to the Hispanic market, and the Canadian packer, Cargill Better Beef. Panam is selling product under their own brand, associated with Better Beef’s brand, and is promoting Canadian beef and its quality attributes as its point of differentiation from the local competition.

The Hispanic consumer prefers bright red meat colour and white fat, two attributes that Canadian

beef delivers consistently. Under the Canadian grading system, only carcasses with white fat and bright red meat are selected for the top grades – Canada Prime, AAA, AA or A. These colour requirements are unique to the Canadian grading system, part of a list of unique attributes of the Canadian Beef Advantage (CBA).

Indeed, the CBA helps retailers increase customer satisfaction and maximize profitability. Canada takes a world class systems based approach to beef production from genetics, on-farm food safety programs, mandatory cattle ID system and grain finishing in a pristine, uniquely Canadian environment, to modern USDA-approved processing facilities with mandatory HACCP programs and quality grading systems.

- Beef Information Centre (beefinfo.org)


Canada is the largest supplier of grain fed beef to the United States with more than 300,000 tonnes exported each year.

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| Meat Industr y Business Watch |

ust as food is an absolutely essential part of human existence, money management is an essential

element of any successful business. There are tricky metrics involved in partnerships between the private sector and civil society but there is an opportunity here that is often ignored.

To approach the business of meat sales, companies could partner with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as an instrument to build image. These partnerships could be strategic ones that could tackle issues from internal operations to the external impact it can have on activities.

NGO partnerships are becoming more and more common in other industries because of the strong benefits they bring to the table. For a business, partnering with an NGO can validate specific projects and efforts in the eyes of consumers. A partnership can also bring knowledge and expertise, especially on a local level, and can enhance credibility and reputation. For companies whose projects affect local communities, NGOs can provide expertise in stakeholder management.

Large corporations often find it difficult to manage relationships with local communities, which can be important to stakeholders. Since NGOs often have a local presence, they can often better understand a community’s concerns and goals, and can thus provide certain information, which for larger corporations, can translate into political action. NGOs also have the ability to communicate with stakeholders outside the local community including consumer groups, regulatory bodies, and other

civil society groups. Companies can also leverage skills and outside perspectives, unfamiliar to the company, from their NGO partner.

A good example of how businesses can benefit from a partnership with an NGO is the case of Akvo, a global online sanitation resource network based in the Netherlands. It uses the Internet as a means to create and share information to help provide proper sanitation to those who do not have it. Since its formal inception in 2008, Akvo has partnered with various NGOs for a variety reasons.

Aqua 4 All (A4A) is one NGO that Akvo partners with. A4A focuses on

access to adequate sanitation for those in rural and semi-urban areas. This partnership has helped Akvo learn from A4A’s small project team, to help ensure Akvo’s system provides the right information to help match projects and funding.

Another NGO Akvo has partnered with is Arghyam. With Arghyam, Akvo has exchanged knowledge and best practices. Arghyam has helped Akvo to deploy technologies in India.

NGOs benefit from the partnership as well. Since businesses are more adept to catalyze change, NGOs can use this to make changes within that industry. Businesses also bring more money to the table, which further

strengthens the previous point of providing NGOs with the ability to change the way the business or industry operates.

As in any partnership, there are also associated risks. There is the danger for a business that the concept of the partnership may be used by an NGO simply as a tool to get money from that business, as well as the “waste of time” factor. For NGOs, there is the risk of potentially damaging their reputation or legitimacy, and possibly even wasting valuable resources. Ultimately, however, the benefits can outweigh the risks.

In order to avoid the risks, there are general rules to follow in these partnerships. The company must realize the element of change it may have to adhere to on its own behalf as well as on behalf of its sector. The NGO must be allowed to keep its independence and be held accountable to its stakeholders. A high level of trust must always exist between partners.

A set of rules should be created and agreed upon at the start of the partnership. These criteria will help to determine the partnership’s overall success. If both parties have laid out their exact intentions, there should be no surprises. With a set of well-defined rules, business enterprises and NGOs can help one another succeed and accomplish goals with a variety of benefits to both.

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Partnerships can help accomplish goals, build image.

The Business of NGO

Partnering

For a business, partnering with an NGO can validate specific projects and efforts in the eyes of consumers.

By James Sbrolla

James Sbrolla is a Toronto -based management consultant and can be reached at 416.234.5120 or [email protected].


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.

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

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Remco and The Yes GroupProtecting your Customers

Meat Industry Canada

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