Canadian beef project extended
The scheme, set up with the goal of establishing a consistent supply of verified sustainable Canadian beef for retailers, foodservice operators and consumers, has delivered the equivalent of 14.8 million quarter-pound beef patties.
One year after the launch of the Canadian Beef Sustainability Acceleration pilot, a Cargill-initiated multi-stakeholder effort, credit payments to Canadian farmers have increased by more than 80% percent between the first and fourth quarter.
Given the success, the pilot will be extended for the near term using the current credit payment system and the program is looking for additional producers to participate to continue to meet demand.
In the pilot’s fourth quarter, almost 1.5 million pounds of beef was produced from certified sustainable sources, which is almost triple the 550,000 pounds produced in the first quarter and exceeds third quarter volume. For the initial 12-month pilot period, approximately 3.7 million pounds of certified sustainable beef was produced. In 2018, McDonald’s Canada became the first company to use the Certified Sustainable Beef logo in the marketplace.
The pilot was initially designed to last one year. Due to its success and increasing customer demand for beef from certified sustainable sources, the pilot team is currently working on long-term solutions for program delivery and value sharing with cattle producers.
As additional cattle producers participate, volume is expected to continue to increase, providing consistent certified sustainable beef volume to retail and food service customers.
