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 Canadian Beef now available in COSTCO Spain Europe continues to emerge as a promising market for premium Canadian beef with year-to-date sales as of September doubling from the same period last year. “We have seen impressive and encouraging sales volume and value growth this past year in the UK and EU,” said Michael Young, President, Canada Beef. “Clearly Europeans are developing a taste for premium quality grain-fed beef and we will work hard to promote Canadian beef brands in the marketplace to become the supply partner of choice.” COSTCO Spain, which operates three locations in Spain (two in Madrid and one in Seville) recently made the decision to make an initial purchase of Canadian beef. The beef, which was purchased through a European distributor importing beef from a European Union (EU) certified beef plant in Canada, is available at all three locations. Canadian Trade Commissioner Service staff located in the Canadian Embassy in Spain provided strong support for this initial transaction by encouraging COSTCO buyers to consider including Canadian beef in the meatcase.  This initial sale was enabled by an incoming mission to Canada by the same European distributor and their key retail and foodservice clients that took place in the fall of 2019. The mission, facilitated by Canada Beef’s Emerging Markets program and the Canadian Beef Centre of Excellence, was further supported by the Canadian Embassy in Spain, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. The mission included visits to various locations to demonstrate Canada’s superior quality standards, production and processing methods and beef grading system. For the initial introduction at COSTCO Spain, Canada Beef provided the creative for the AAA labels which were applied to product packaging. Canada Beef is also working with the distributor and the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service in Spain on promotional and marketing programs, as well as highlighting resources available, to support the sales of Canadian beef available at COSTCO Spain during both the initial launch period and beyond. Canada Beef supports beef distributor in Middle East Distributor education programs (DEP) are one of the key tactics identified in Canada Beef’s export market development strategies. This tactic supports Canadian beef distributors to help them better understand, deliver and promote the Canadian beef advantage and Canadian beef quality attributes to their clients. DEP also provides them with new options and tools to build and grow their Canadian beef sales programs. The overall goal is to enhance Canadian beef demand and carcass cut-out values, aligning with Pillar 1 of Canada’s National Beef Strategy. In addition to supporting Canada’s key export markets for beef, Canada Beef also works with emerging market development opportunities in regions such as Europe and the Middle East via the Emerging Market Development Strategy. Distributor education is one of the approaches used to support increasing demand as well as volume and sales value for Canadian beef in these markets. In late summer, Canada Beef’s Emerging Markets section was asked by a major Canadian beef exporter to the Middle East to develop a training program for the sales staff of one of their key distributors in the region. The company, a major food distributor supplying a wide range of imported products to the foodservice sector, was interested in enhancing the knowledge, abilities and confidence of their sales team to not only sell more Canadian beef to their existing clients and channels but to also look to expand opportunities for Canadian beef into new channels in the market. In collaboration with the Canadian Beef Centre of Excellence (CBCE), a training program was developed that included staff completing eight interactive courses available through Connect, the online training program designed and developed by the CBCE, along with participation in two virtual training webinars delivered by staff from both the CBCE and Canada Beef.  The webinars, delivered live via Zoom, were well received by both the participants and the Canadian beef exporter. The first webinar, delivered on September 28 and that included a presentation by CBCE Executive Director Mathieu Paré, focused on the Canadian beef advantage and key Canadian beef attributes. The topics included a comparison of US and Canadian grading to highlight similarities as well as differences between the two. The session finished with a lively Q & A session with thoughtful questions from the participants.  The second webinar delivered on November 3, focused on the Canadian beef grading system and Canadian beef butchery and culinary options as well as proper handling and storage techniques. Cameron Pappel, Culinary and Innovation Manager, CBCE delivered a product demonstration focused on the Canadian beef grading system and a side-by-side comparison of marbling in AA, AAA and Prime grade Canadian beef premium grilling steaks. This session highlighted opportunities with AA grade Canadian beef in multi-tiered dining establishments. Each webinar was a total of two hours in length; 12 members of the distributor’s sales team participated in each session and 10 members completed the online training courses. Both the Canadian beef exporter and the foodservice distribution company noted how valuable the program was for staff. “I am sure that the presentation along with the online training will provide our distributor’s sales staff tremendous insight and knowledge that can be used to promote Canadian Beef”, said a representative from the Canadian beef packer supplier. Back to main page  ALBERT ERINGFELD Executive Director, Export Market Development |
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