Alberta Beef Producers
News release
Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) is pleased to see the announcement that Earls restaurants have listened to Albertans and will bring Canadian beef back to their restaurants.
This is a positive message to Alberta cattle and beef producers and a good first step toward putting Canadian and Alberta beef back on their menus and in their words, making this right.
Now, we are hoping Earls will fulfill this commitment to building the supply of Canadian beef for their restaurants. We appreciate the effort that Earls made to meet with representatives of ABP, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, Canada Beef, and the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB).
We think Earls understands the high standards of food safety, environmental protection, and animal care which cattle and beef are produced in Canada.
They recognized the progressive work being done by the CRSB to develop a Sustainable Sourcing Framework that will support credible, transparent, and scientific communications with consumers about sustainable beef.
We hope Earls will participate in the sustainability discussions at the CRSB and move toward using a Canadian verification that will enable them to serve more Canadian and Alberta beef.
ABP would like to thank the people of Alberta for their support of Alberta Beef and Alberta cattle and beef producers.
We are proud of the beef produced here and are gratified that the consumers in Alberta share this pride and were prepared to take action in support of our industry.
Statement from Earls May 4, 2016 (Calgary, Alberta):
Today, Earls restaurants said they have listened to Albertans and will bring back Canadian beef into their restaurants, working with local farms to build a supply of Alberta beef that meets their criteria.
‘We made a mistake when we moved away from Canadian beef,” said Earls President MO Jessa. “We want to make this right. We want Canadian beef back on our menus, so we are going to work with local ranchers to build our supply of Alberta beef that meets our criteria.
“We have deeps roots in Alberta. We started in Edmonton and have many operations and employees here. Alberta has supported us. We need to support Alberta, especially in tough times.
“We moved to a US supplier, as we thought they could supply all of our needs. It was a mistake not to include Canadian beef,” said Jessa.