Shortages of beef are expected in the coming days in local grocery coolers as meat buyers look for an opportunity to pounce on a weakened rival.
On the morning of Sept. 28 the local Co-op voluntarily recalled all fresh beef from the store, since 100 per cent of it is processed by XL Foods Inc.
“We have no choice but to do it,” said Central Alberta Co-op Ltd. General Manager Mike Clement. “All the products that we do have now are safe.”
Clement says he expects shortages of prime cuts such as steaks and roasts over the short term. This is the largest recall they have ever faced.
“Right now we're buying from Cargill,” he said. “It's a big shift.”
Clement says anyone who is concerned about beef purchased from the Co-op is free to return the product.
At the Wednesday cattle sale at the Innisfail Auction Mart there wasn't much action from XL buyers.
“They were pretty quiet today,” said Duane Daines, one of the auctioneers with the family business. “Everybody's thinking, ‘Boy, this is a little opportunity. I might be able to buy some cows at their price.'”
Cargill buyers in particular were bidding up much of the butchered cow stock, he said.
And while these animals are fetching 70-74 cents a pound, off from their 80 cent mark just before the E. coli was discovered at the XL Foods plant, that's a lot better than some farmers have feared.
“I've been getting lots of calls,” said Daines. “In the cattle business we're getting almost resilient. You can handle it.”
One factor that's in the favour of farmers is so many ranchers switched to grain production after mad cow disease hit Alberta in 2003 demand should remain high, he said.
Kevin's No Frills was contacted but the company did not reply by deadline.
In a statement released Oct. 4, XL Foods admitted their prevention, process verification and correction, response and product control practices were not up to snuff, and pledged to beef up food safety. When they are allowed to reopen, the company will start with only limited production runs.
