Cargill launches 'birth to burger' beef sustainability pilot
Cargill Canadian Beef Sustainability Acceleration pilot, the company's newest initiative, which kicks off this month, has significant scale and will incorporate, and explore, new technologies. It will include only Canadian cattle, starting with animals processed at Cargill’s High River, Alberta, facility.
Using the Canadian beef industry’s existing radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag system, cattle will be tracked by the Beef Info-Exchange System (BIXS) from the time cattle producers tag them, through processing at Cargill’s High River beef plant. Verified Beef Production Plus (VBP+) – overseen by the Beef Cattle Research Council and operated with the assistance of provincial cattle organizations – will be the first certification body utilized to audit cattle producers who choose to participate, the company's statement read.
A unique aspect of this pilot involves rewarding participating cattle producers as a way to help offset the increased costs associated with implementing and running the pilot. McDonald’s Canada, Loblaw Companies Limited and the Swiss Chalet Rotisserie and Grill restaurant unit of Vaughan, Ontario-based CARA Operations Ltd., are the Cargill customers initially participating in this pilot.
“Ever-more-frequently, our retail and restaurant customers ask us questions about where Canadian beef comes from and how the cattle are raised,” said Gurneesh Bhandal, Cargill’s beef sustainability manager based in Toronto. “Consumer research tells us there is a thirst for this type of information. We have been listening and learning, and our yearlong 2017-2018 sustainability pilot will help create the infrastructure needed to implement the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef’s standard in our supply chain, providing our customers and consumers with an increased level of trust in the beef they purchase and eat.”
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