For Dean Baglole, the past three years have been an odyssey that has taught him the value of partnerships.
The Freetown beef producer is chair of the producer-owned co-operative that has planned, built and operates the new beef plant in Albany. The PEI ADAPT Council (which administers the Canadian Adaptation and Rural Development Fund in the province) has been involved with the province since the beginning, providing financial assistance to carry out a feasibility study on the plant.
Baglole said it was clear right from the beginning Island producers couldn't do it alone – they needed support from the federal and provincial governments, Co-op Atlantic and from their fellow producers in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
The plant is now gearing up towards full production of 400-500 animals per week. The facility handles product for the Atlantic Tender Beef Classic label, which is sold exclusively by Co-op Atlantic. The animals used in the program are grown to a strict protocol, and 80 per cent of animals slaughtered under the program come from Prince Edward Island.
Beef producers in the three provinces began looking at the idea of a new plant after Hub Meat Packers in Moncton (which had been processing product for the program) announced they would no longer handle the product. The producer co-operative began selling hooks in the plant (producers required a hook for every animal they hoped to send to the plant in a given year) just as the U.S. border closed due to the discovery of mad cow disease in Alberta.
Despite the financial hardships facing the industry, Baglole said producers bought into the plant because they believed having control of production within the region will help insulate the Maritime industry against the world situation somewhat. He pointed out Co-op Atlantic provides the plant with a steady market although there is still room to expand.
"We have given producers an opportunity to have a say in marketing," Baglole said. "If all we do is continue to produce, we are at the bottom of the food chain and there is not a whole lot of hope at the end of the day we are going to get out of the hole the industry now finds itself in." He said producers now have a direct say in how their product is produced, processed and distributed. "Producers are involved from gate to plate."
Baglole added the federal government has recently committed money for traceability equipment that will make the plant state-of-the-art when it comes to being able to track every animals that comes through the plant along the food chain. He said the facility now has the potential to be a model for the rest of the industry in this field. Already, he said the system is generating buzz within the processing industry, and the plant has received calls from as far away as Korea inquiring about the technology.
Baglole said there is plenty of room for the industry to expand, noting Maritime beef accounts for only a small percentage of beef consumed in the region. He added "there is plenty of room to grow and we are looking forward to the future."
(This is one of a series of articles prepared by the P.E.I. Agricultural Awareness Committee and funded by the P.E.I. ADAPT Council and other partners to highlight new and innovative developments in the province's farming community.)