Food retailer promises to purchase 3-million more pounds of sustainable beef

Dec 17, 2021

Loblaws to triple its purchase of sustainable beef by 2023 for its Ontario brand.

By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com, Photo by Stijn te Strake on Unsplash

Loblaw Companies Ltd. said it is going to triple its purchase of beef sourced from Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB)-certified sustainable farms and ranches by 2023.

From its 1-million pound purchase in 2020, Loblaws will now purchase 3-million lbs of sustainable beef as part of its continued support of providing sustainable-raised food options for consumers and to Canadian farmers dedicated to those sustainable practices.

“(The) announcement reaffirms our long-term commitment to help advance sustainability in the beef supply chain in Canada,” said Simon Romano, Vice President of Fresh Procurement, Meat, Seafood and Deli for Loblaw Companies Ltd. “As both a retailer and a founding member of CRSB, our hope is that more beef producers will embrace certification of their on-farm practices that meet CRSB standards for sustainability.”

Loblaw said it wants at least 30 percent of its overall beef purchases to come from CRSB-certified farms to be used for its Ontario Corn Fed Beef brand sold in Ontario stores.

“CRSB appreciates the ongoing support from a large grocery retailer like Loblaw, committed to working collaboratively with the beef industry in support of our sustainable practices, and sharing that story with Canadian consumers,” stated Anne Wasko, Chair of the CRSB and rancher from Eastend SK. “This robust commitment will show our community of beef producers that Loblaw values their dedication, and is serious about working with them to make real progress.”

Canada continues to be a global leader in sustainable beef production, with 2030 goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 33 percent, a 50 percent reduction in post-harvest food loss and waste, and preservation of the remaining 35 million acres of grasslands in Canada.

Video: US Soy: Pig growth is impaired by soybean meal displacement in the diet

Eric van Heugten, PhD, professor and swine extension specialist at North Carolina State University, recently spoke at the Iowa Swine Day Pre-Conference Symposium, titled Soybean Meal 360°: Expanding our horizons through discoveries and field-proven feeding strategies for improving pork production. The event was sponsored by Iowa State University and U.S. Soy.

Soybean meal offers pig producers a high-value proposition. It’s a high-quality protein source, providing essential and non-essential amino acids to the pig that are highly digestible and palatable. Studies now show that soybean meal provides higher net energy than current National Research Council (NRC) requirements. Plus, soybean meal offers health benefits such as isoflavones and antioxidants as well as benefits with respiratory diseases such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS).

One of several ingredients that compete with the inclusion of soybean meal in pig diets is dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS).

“With DDGS, we typically see more variable responses because of the quality differences depending on which plant it comes from,” said Dr. van Heugten. “At very high levels, we often see a reduction in performance especially with feed intake which can have negative consequences on pig performance, especially in the summer months when feed intake is already low and gaining weight is at a premium to get them to market.”

Over the last few decades, the industry has also seen the increased inclusion of crystalline amino acids in pig diets.

“We started with lysine at about 3 lbs. per ton in the diet, and then we added methionine and threonine to go to 6 to 8 lbs. per ton,” he said. “Now we have tryptophan, isoleucine and valine and can go to 12 to 15 lbs. per ton. All of these, when price competitive, are formulated into the diet and are displacing soybean meal which also removes the potential health benefits that soybean meal provides.”