After completing a feasibility study, the B.C. beef packing plant committee has decided to market a B.C.-branded product before building a federally inspected packing plant.
Most of B.C.’s cattle are finished and processed outside of the province, making it a challenge to sell B.C.-branded beef. A new packing plant has been seen as a potential part of the solution, and garnered some support from government and industry.
Beef producers and representatives from the packing industry struck a steering committee to study the viability of a federally inspected plant with a capacity of 500 head a week. During the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association AGM in 2018, B.C.’s Ministry of Agriculture committed up to $450,000 for the project. The funding was to be used to create an industry-led co-operative business model for the plant.
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The committee now plans to create a co-operative that will develop the B.C.-branded beef and work with the existing federal plants in B.C., Beef in B.C. magazine notes. A business plan is anticipated for December 2019, and an interim board will be created after that to bring the new brand to market. Once the brand is established, the co-operative will evaluate the viability of a new plant, possibly by 2021 or 2022.
For more information on the project, email [email protected].
