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From the wants and demands of an
ever-changing
consumer’s taste came the Ontario Corn-Fed Beef
Program (OCFBP) – a producer owned and operated
program made-up of family farmers dedicated to
providing and promoting safe, tasty beef products that
are proudly produced and marketed in the province.
The consumer desire to source identifiable attributes
has been the key driver of our branded beef program
that is consistent in taste and quality and – more
importantly – is locally-raised. Last April, Ontario
Corn-Fed Beef was featured at the Good Food Festival
in Toronto. We served 10,000 samples of brisket on a
baguette. The response was overwhelming, yet one
question kept arising: consumers told us that they
wanted to know the story behind the beef they were
eating. They also wanted to know that feed and
management play a major role in how beef is produced.
They wanted to know what the cattle ate and how
they were treated in general.
We want the consumer to remember one thing: When
they eat Ontario produced beef products, they are
getting quality, assurance, and above all, taste. Ontario
Corn-Fed Beef has a great story to tell and people –
consumers - want to hear it. They want to pass it onto
their friends, relations and acquaintances. Consumers want
to talk about their food in terms of taste and attributes.
The fact that beef is high in iron and an excellent
source of protein, has been the focus of the role that
beef farmers and the agricultural industry is playing in
our consumer’s dietary needs.
More than that – the OCFBP is one of the first concrete
programs for branding this province’s cattle. Launched
in June 2001 to expand the market and profile of
Ontario-produced beef, the program has become a success
in the short time it has been operational and now,
more than 120 family farms service more than 50
independent, retail and gourmet butcher shops, along
with an additional 60 restaurants and establishments.
Add in four independent wholesalers who are sourcing
a large percentage of their product from the certified
plants and you begin to understand that hard work,
effort, and persistence pays off for the farmers who
believe that they are providing a safe, nutritious, and
delicious tasting product which will make a difference.
Mallot Creek Group Inc. has been hired with respect to the
future marketing strategies and the strategic placement of
the OCFBP, and how it fits into an ever-evolving
marketplace.
This strategy will be key in identifying, who our
competitors are. Where are they placing themselves in
terms of our markets? What can we do to improve our
position in the domestic marketplace as well as abroad?
And more importantly, how do we get there?
This strategy will touch on our business plans for the
future, and how our performance is matched with our
strategic objectives through our programs.
There are a number of projects on the go within the
Ontario Cattle Feeders Association (OCFA) and these
programs have, and will be, driven through the OCFBP.
One of the projects that we are developing, and that
you should be aware of, deals with the whole pricing
mechanism of our products. The OCFA Board has been
doing a great deal of groundwork in order to properly
review changes that are needed and how to make these
changes a reality. It’s easy to put something onto paper –
it’s quite another to implement it. We always have (and
will continue to) focused on projects that have relevance to
the entire agriculture and business sectors of our industry.
Last year, there was a resolution passed at the OCFA
Annual meeting that referenced Central Desk Selling –
and it quickly attracted attention. After the annual
meeting was over, we went back and reviewed this
resolution and looked at it from a number of different
angles as far as benefits, downfalls, probability of
making it happen, right down to producer involvement.
There was no effective way or easy solution to making
this happen. After lengthy review, we focused on a
project that we were developing in early 2003, before
the first Canadian case of BSE was discovered - that
project was the development of a special or tailor-made
risk management protocol to go hand in hand with the
OCFBP. This whole concept of a standard set of risk
management tools has been, and will continue to be,
developed and we believe this will assist in not only
maintaining, but building a stronger beef industry in
this province.
You may ask, “What is so different about our risk
management than all of the past and present risk
management programs available?” I can only answer
that question by saying that we, as producers, are the
only ones who can truly control our destiny into the future
and if we do not build programs that are specifically made
to assist agriculture then we will remain price-takers,
depending on someone else or some event to dictate
what we receive for our product at the end of the day.
What we are proposing here is a new-age value chain
co-operative!
When we talk risk management, we talk
producer partnerships
that run from gate to plate and these partnerships
will include the people who are truly serious about
making continual change.
“Our members firmly believe that this is the future for the
beef industry in Ontario,” says Curtis Royal, OCFA
President.
“Once our product is in the consumer’s hands, they know
that they are getting the finest beef in the province – and
it
keeps them coming back time and again.”
The OCFBP has been participating in consumer and industry
tradeshows, working with retailers to bring their product to
grocery shelves, and all the while, letting consumers know
more about their product, complete with recipes and
contacts,
through their Web site:
www.ontariocornfedbeef.com.
We are what we eat – but what we eat should still taste
wonderful as well. That was the message that consumers
keep telling us. Their feedback on our product has been
and will continue to be one of the strongest drivers of
the OCFBP.
But, like many brands before us, the OCFBP will take time
to penetrate an incredibly competitive marketplace. But,
with any new product – good or otherwise, comes
marketing challenges that are outside the grasp of the
farming community.
We’ve let the taste of our product and our high quality
standards, be the stamp of consumer approval. Our farmers
are responding to the demands of consumers: food safety,
quality assurance, and health attributes that can be
measured,
attained, and verified. And our Government stands behind
this
premise also. We are working towards a healthier society –
and
we are contributing towards that goal.
Consumers, Government, food processors, farm suppliers
and producers all have a stake and a role to play, and the
OCFA is there to make sure that commitment to high
standards is maintained day in and day out – so that the
assurance of naturally great tasting beef is the norm, not
the exception.
The OCFA membership may not be large in numbers, but
it contributes approximately half a billion dollars to the
Ontario economy. Its farmers are local employers, paying
some of the top wages in an industry that contributes to
the on-going rural economy. These farmers know that the
strength of the rural countryside comes from agriculture
and it is, at its roots, the second largest economic engine
in the province - well ahead of a number of other sectors.
If you don’t see it at your local butcher shop or retail
store, ask the manager to bring in locally grown, locally
produced, and locally marketed Ontario Corn-Fed Beef.
We are committed to our environment and to the
environment of our farm. After all, our farming operation
isn’t just our business, it’s our home, where we raise our
family, as well as conduct our business.
So at the end, what is Ontario Corn-Fed Beef? It’s
consistently
tender, juicy, and great tasting – time and again. |
