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By Alice McFarlane

Beef Demand

Beef demand changes with pandemic

Apr 28, 2020 | 5:00 PM

Retailers are beginning to adapt to the prospect of fewer cattle being processed.

Canada Beef President Michael Young said packers are sending out more bone-in cuts to retail outlets as a way to keep product moving in a timely manner.

“A lot of retailers are working with the supply chain now and they are taking commodity type cuts which is effectively taking some of the labour out of the meat plants back to the retail sector,” Young said. “This allows them to get the products they’re looking for when they’re looking for them.”

Canada beef says retail beef sales are 30 to 50 per cent higher compared to this time last year. Young said the most common question asked on the Canada Beef website pertains to cooking roast beef.

“The millennial group, 25 to 34 [years old] users has doubled. We are now seeing a 115 per cent increase of users in the 45 to 54 age group looking for recipes,” he said.

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While retail sales have been higher, there has been a substantial drop in beef sales to restaurants.

“Over the last six weeks there has been a dramatic decrease in food service volume, minus 40 to 70 per cent depending on the category. The casual fine dining sector has been hit the hardest,” he said. “Most national quick service restaurant operations are still offering take out services but some are having to limit order size because of the volume.”

Canadian beef exports to the U.S. have seen a decline as more muscle cuts stay in Canada. Last year, Canada exported 41 per cent of total production. Of that number, 72 per cent went south of the border.

“A large proportion of that volume consists of lean muscle cuts and trimmings for grinding operations in the U.S.,” Young said. “Since the onset of the pandemic, we’ve been told lean muscle cuts and lean trimmings are staying in Canada to supply the ground beef demand.”

Japan is Canada’s second largest beef customer. Young said the Canadian office in Japan is promoting cooking Canadian beef at home through recipe distribution and keeping close contact with clients over the course of the pandemic.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF