Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

The CFFO Commentary: The Canada Brand gets extended to the Domestic Market

By Nathan Stevens
May 25, 2012
 
Proponents of Canadian food for Canadians got a boost last week as the Federal Government announced that the Canada Brand has been expanded to include a domestic component. This is a positive step forward in market-oriented ways to enhance farmer’s opportunities both domestically and abroad.
 
The Canada Brand has been in existence for a number of years promoting the positive qualities of food produced in Canada in foreign markets. For example, Canada Brand has put considerable effort into promoting high value pork cuts in Japan. Extending the Canada Brand into the domestic market recognizes that the domestic market plays a key role in the viability of the agri-food sector.
 
Although the domestic portion of the Canada Brand is currently a relatively small program, with only 65 stores currently enrolled in the program, it is a start. This is the follow-up to a 2011 pilot program conducted in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario and British Columbia that sought to clearly identified Canadian products in a select group of stores. The program used shelf displays, brochures and other printed products, with the goal of increasing consumer awareness about Canadian food options on store shelves.
 
The results of the initiative showed that sales of Canadian food products went up significantly when clearly advertised. This key result adds new proof regarding Canadian consumer preferences towards clearly identified Canadian food. While this doesn’t mean that they will necessarily pay more for Canadian food, when given a choice, many prefer the Canadian option.
 
It is encouraging that our federal government is choosing to support initiatives that are domestically oriented as well as pursuing trade opportunities aggressively. Time will tell if additional Canadian grocery stores will choose to pursue this opportunity in the future. Canada’s agri-food industry should be sure to balance the importance of taking care of the domestic market while looking farther beyond our borders for new opportunities.


 

Nathan Stevens is the Interim Manager and Director of Policy Development for the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario. The CFFO Commentary represents the opinions of the writer and does not necessarily represent CFFO policy. The CFFO Commentary is heard weekly on CFCO Chatham, CKNX Wingham, and UCB Canada radio stations in Chatham, Belleville, Bancroft, Brockville and Kingston and in Brantford and Woodstock. It is also found on the CFFO website:www.christianfarmers.org. CFFO is supported by 4,200 family farmers across Ontario.

Views: 83

Comment

You need to be a member of Ontario Agriculture to add comments!

Join Ontario Agriculture

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Nova Scotia invests in beef sector

Farmers have until Dec. 11 to apply for the Nova Scotia Beef Development Program

hio Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Adopts Iowa State University Disease Diagnostic Codes

The Ohio Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory has successfully adopted Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory "Disease Diagnostic Codes" developed by Iowa State University. A Swine Health Information Center funded project has resulted in the successful adoption by the Ohio Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory of Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Disease Diagnostic Codes developed by Iowa State University. SHIC Executive Director Dr. Lisa Becton says the goal of the project was to make better use of diagnostic data when assessing trends for disease detection on a case basis, rather than just looking at PCR results. Quote-Dr. Lisa Becton-Swine Health Information Center: When tissue cases are submitted, a lot of times there is information that is provided by the attending veterinarian that is not always in a standardized framework. The system that Iowa State University VDL developed provides for a standardized coding framework and this is important because it allows further capture of the different p

Rebound in Pork Demand Needed to Support Stronger Hog Markets

The Chief Economist with EA Risk says a rebound in pork demand is what's needed to provide upward price support for hog prices moving forward. The day-two keynote address yesterday, as part of Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium 2026 looked at the outlook for the hog market. Dr. Lee Schulz, the Chief Economist with EA Risk, formerly Ever.Ag Risk Management, says although hog supplies are forecast to be similar to year ago levels, weakened demand for pork due to the economy, fueled by a higher cost of living has put substantial downward pressure on hog prices. Quote-Dr. Lee Schulz-EA Risk: Consumers are not keeping up. If you look at real disposable personal income, it's been down four months, month over month here in 2026, pretty large decline here in September. So, consumers are, are, are feeling it. I think they're seeing it, but again, they're also feeling it then in their pocketbooks and what that has done is it's impacted demand across the board. Pork has, has been one of them

Sask Pork Concludes a Successful Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium 2026

he Communications and Marketing Coordinator with Sask Pork credits the Sask Pork team and the Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium advisory committee with a successful 2026 edition of the annual event. Although the numbers have not yet been crunched, the 2026 edition of Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium held this week in Saskatoon drew a possible record number of participants from across North America. Sask Pork Communications and Marketing Coordinator Steve Seto says it was a team effort. Quote-Steve Seto-Sask Pork: Our advisory committee was absolutely fantastic, which is a group of people, industry representation, whether it be packers, genetics companies, everybody that is involved in that committee. They make symposium go. We meet a few times a year and we say, what are the hottest topics, what are people concerned about, what do we need to address? And they are able to help build our agenda and they do a fantastic job. The advisory committee, everybody that was involved wit

Beyond Meat’s Q3 revenue falls 8.1%

Beyond Meat, a plant-based meat alternative maker, reported an 8.1% year-on-year fall in third-quarter revenue, according to Reuters. The company said the decline was mainly due to a drop in the volume of products sold, reported Reuters. Gross margin rose to 19.3%, the highest in five years, which the company attributed to reduced manufacturing, inventory and logistics expenses. The net loss narrowed from a year earlier, helped by improved gross profit and other income. International retail sales rose, driven by increased burger and ground beef sales in Europe. Beyond Meat expects fourth-quarter net revenue of $54 million to $59 million. It said the operating environment remains uncertain and volatile and may affect future results, and it is limiting guidance to the fourth-quarter revenue outlook because of that uncertainty.

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service