In previous columns, I commented on the notion that food products labelled Canada or with the Maple leaf may not be wholly Canadian. This was in response to the food patriotism frenzy that seems to be occupying much of the mindset of the Canadian public and media. In turn, that is the response to the impact of USA tariffs inflicted upon the Canadian economy by Trump. For most Canadians, such a visceral reaction is the only way to bite back at a situation we have little control over.
Recent anecdotal evidence shows that the “Buy Canadian” trend is having an impact – and that’s a good thing for locally produced food products. But as admirable as that may be, in many cases, even if the ingredients or produce are Canadian-grown, the folks processing the Canadian product in many cases are American-owned.
In an ironic way, in these situations, the US still wins even if the food product seems Canadian-made. It’s all the result of many decades of consolidation and amalgamation of food processing in North America by companies expanding their businesses or creating better efficiencies. There is no problem with that as it keeps food products relatively inexpensive and widely available through economies of scale. That is until food patriotism enters the picture and food origin becomes the issue.
One notes that although food origin has become a mainstream media fascination, almost never is it mentioned that the processors, distributors, etc., are often not Canadian but American-owned. But it’s not just American-owned that is of interest; other large foreign entities are involved in food processing, often under different labels. It gets more interesting in Alberta, where we have not only foreign interests owning big chunks of our food processing industry but also large businesses from other provinces dominating the industry.
Most notably, businesses controlled by giant agriculture co-ops from Quebec. Many are financed by Quebec-based banks, insurance companies and Quebec pension funds. Alberta may pride itself on dominating the Canadian energy business, but Quebec is increasingly becoming a dominant player in food processing, particularly in the non-beef meat sector in Alberta.
Many citizens are aware that the two giant Alberta beef processors are foreign-owned, Cargill being American and JBS being Brazilian. But few would know that large companies, conglomerates and co-ops from other provinces own other large sectors of Alberta food processing. For instance, Olymel, the largest pork processor in the province, is owned by the giant Quebec co-op – Sollio Cooperative Group. The Westfine Meats lamb plant in Innisfail, the largest processor of its kind in Canada, is owned by Preval Ag, a large meat processing conglomerate headquartered in Quebec. Agropur Co-op, a large dairy processor from Quebec, continues to expand in Alberta, buying up smaller processors. Sunrise Farms is a big player in the Alberta poultry business, but it’s from BC, not Quebec.
The size of non-Alberta ownership of the meat, egg, and dairy processing industry is uncertain, as many of these out-of-province businesses operate under different names and labels, like in the yogurt business. I expect there are further business interlinks through partnerships and share-holding relationships.
The ownership situation is diversified in the big Alberta potato business – global New Brunswick-owned processors, McCains and Cavendish Farms dominate the french fry business. However, the potato chip business is almost all-American, with Frito-Lay and Old Dutch controlling chip and snack-related processing under a plethora of different labels. In the scheme of it all, ownership isn’t all that relevant in a North American free market. However, I suggest it might become more relevant as our national sovereignty and business relationship are being challenged by our largest trading partner.
The worst-case scenario is when US tariffs start to impact the efficiencies and profitability of American/foreign-owned food processing plants in Alberta. For many of these plants their production is integrated with their other plants in the US. Political disruptions like tariffs could interfere with that integration and cause Canadian plants to decrease production or close.
What would help consumers in their quest for Canadian products would be a new label,
something like “100% Canadian – In Every Way.”
But that would probably muddy the Canadian label confusion even more. But how about a website with a formula that shows the percentage of Canadianess of a product that would include the source of ingredients and who owns the processing and distribution. Keen consumers could then compare how Canadian a product really is and buy accordingly.
Will Verboven is an ag opinion writer and policy advisor.
