GUADALAJARA - If you’ve enjoyed a great steak lately, you just might have savored a little taste of Canada.
For more than a decade, Canadian beef has been quietly but surely earning its place in the hearts and stomachs of Mexican consumers. This year alone, 55,000 tons will make its way on to Mexican tables.
Mexico is now Canada’s second largest market, after the United States. And while the scale of exports is dramatically different – there are about nine U.S. cows for each one in Canada, and 95 percent of the Canadian export bovines live in Alberta – CBEF representatives focus on the quality of their product.
“Our price is competitive against the Unites States. Some transports may add a few cents, but we compensate for that with the quality of the meat,” says Armando Najera, the CBEF’s marketing manager in Mexico. “Many of the Canadian grades are stricter than their U.S. equivalents.”
Canadian grades, for example, don’t allow “dark cutters,” meat from stressed animals that doesn’t bloom to the recognized bright red. Fat color, like the animals’ grain diet, is also strictly controlled – only white and light amber are allowed. In several world markets, Canada A, AA, AAA and Prime grades have been granted equivalence to USDA Choice and Prime grades.
World financial crisis aside, Canadian beef is here to stay. “Mexico is just not self-sufficient in beef, especially fine cuts, and many ranchers don’t have access to federal-type meat inspection, so they can’t compete,” says Juan Carlos Muñoz, commercial delegate at the Canadian Consulate in Guadalajara. “And the global tendency for meat consumption is rising.”
Last year, beef represented about a quarter of Canada’s total agro exports to Mexico. The nation’s cows earned Canada around 350 million U.S. dollars.
That’s not to say consumers can walk into a local supermarket and pick up meat emblazoned with the maple leaf. Although CBEF representatives this week are spending three days at Guadalajara’s Expo ANTAD, a grocery store supply convention, that’s mostly to add to brand conscience and stay in the thoughts of Mexican suppliers, they say.
“Most of our Canadian exporters are small and medium businesses, and it’s easier to work with the HRI market (hotel, restaurant and institutional),” explains Muñoz. “Department stores aren’t really a priority.”
“In supermarkets, some identity is lost, because the manager gets a giant box of meat, then redistributes it to store packaging,” agrees Najera. “We don’t give ‘Canadian Beef’ tags, because we don’t want to risk misrepresentation, having our tags stuck on someone else’s inferior quality meat.”
In Mexico, Canadian beef is sold at Sams, City Club and Soriana – in all cases, it is best that the customer specifically ask the meat counter manager to identify the product.
Najera is optimistic but acknowledges that there is still work to do. That’s why he recently launched a local Spanish-language newspaper advertising campaign to familiarize readers with the Canadian beef grading system. He considers lack of knowledge about Canadian grading systems to be one of the Mexican market’s greatest hurdles.
“U.S. meat is more established, has more of a reputation. It’s had many years in the Mexican market and their system is more recognized, their terms have become almost generic,” says Najera, who designed the CBEF’s latest ad campaign. “That’s why we are emphasizing the Canadian equivalent grades.”
As for taste tests, Canadian beef seems to have made the grade at Expo ANTAD. On the first day, visitors consumed 12 kilograms of meat, with the tasting booth closing early to ensure supplies lasted through Friday.
THE LOWDOWN ON CANADIAN PRODUCTS
The Canadian Consulate in Guadalajara maintains a list of providers of Canadian products and works to support importers and develop new contacts in the local economy. If you want to know more about Canadian beef, or any other Canadian products, and how to get them to Mexico, call the Canadian Consulate’s Juan Carlos Muñoz at 3671-4740 ext. 3351, or send him an e-mail at juan-carlos.munoz@international.gc.ca.
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