Source: PPD

and guinea fowl export. One producer dominates the guinea fowl business while two other producers share the pheasant market. Van Vooren ships pheasant to the US while Flintshire Farms ship into Japan. In the area of fowl, these three companies virtually dominate their Canadian and US markets.

Canada exports 327 tonnes of bison, mainly to Europe. The major markets are England, Belgium, France and the United States. There are two exporters North Country Bison, and Bouvry, both from Alberta.

Wild boar is the fourth largest specialty export from Canada. Wild boar is produced in Saskatchewan and shipped to Japan. Some 132 tonnes were shipped in 1996. The major producer is Saskatoon Specialty Meats.

Apart from fowl, the bulk of exports are from Western Canada. Fowl are all produced in Ontario.

3. Canada is not a significant importer of game

Imports of specialty livestock and game are not significant. The two largest imports are sheep and goat. These imports are outlined in more detail:

Canada’s largest specialty meat import is sheep. Some 9,338 tonnes of lamb totaling almost half of Canada’s total consumption is imported. Canadian import and export data is contained in the Appendix.

Our second largest import are goats. Some 724 tonnes were imported in 1996. Canada is an importer of Australian and New Zealand goat

All other imports are insignificant. Rabbit and deer imports amount to only 1 container each (approximately 20 tonnes.)

It is possible to undertake import substitution in the case of sheep and goats, by producing better quality product, selling fresh chilled instead of frozen, and by servicing the market better than New Zealand. It is another thing entirely to try to take away someone else’s market for venison when it amounts to a meager 27 tonnes.

4. Game bird production and imports show growth

Federal slaughter of game birds has increased to 1,570 tonnes eviscerated weight. The bulk of game birds produced are pheasant, guinea fowl, squab, partridge and silkies. Exhibit 10 shows this.

Source: CFIA Condemnations, Import and Export Data and Slaughter from Provincial plants

* 70% by head and 50% by weight are quail, the rest are pheasant and may include squab, guinea fowl, partridge, and silkies

** 86% quail

*** mainly squab

Of interest is the growth in imports from 73 tonnes to 112 tonnes, with the bulk of this import being squab. Squab consumption is growing due to the increase in immigrant population from the Middle East, and the Mediterranean area.

Sales of Alberta slaughtered horse has almost tripled in value terms over the 1985-95 period, from 15 million to 44 million dollars. Over the same 10 year period, actual slaughter tonnage has not increased appreciably. This is shown in Exhibit 11.

Source: Alberta Agriculture, Statistics Canada

The bulk of sales are to Europe and Japan. This is a unique market with high premiums being paid according to levels of fatness and freshness of product.

5. Alberta production at similar stage of development to Saskatchewan

Alberta specialty livestock is at a similar stage of development to Saskatchewan. It is moving from production of breeding stock to commercial production. Apart from bison and horse, there is very little in the way of slaughter and processing being undertaken. Exhibit 12 shows this.

It should be noted that about 4,000 of the 19,488 horses slaughtered in Alberta were from Saskatchewan.

Source: Alberta Agriculture

6. Ontario game production and slaughter at a similar stage to Saskatchewan

Game production in Ontario is at similar stage of development to Alberta and Saskatchewan. The industry is starting to shift from breeding to commercial slaughter in ratites, deer and boar. This is shown in Exhibit 13. Apart from rabbit and deer there is very little slaughter going on.

Ontario has an advantage over the two Western provinces in that it has a large domestic market. This means that:

Much of the slaughter undertaken is under provincial inspection. This is cheaper than Federal inspection.

Slaughter numbers contain out-of-province animals. Many producers, such as rabbit producers from Saskatchewan, have shipped live animals into Ontario for slaughter.

 

(EST. NUMBERS, 1996)

Source: Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food

* Contains unidentified slaughter of red and fallow deer. White tail deer slaughter is minimal.

7. Almost 100,000 deer farmed in Canada

Some 100,000 deer are farmed in Canada. Exhibit 14 shows the patchwork of regulations regarding deer production. For example, Saskatchewan does not permit the production of red deer, while Alberta forbids the production of both red deer and fallow deer. Other provinces such as British Columbia do not permit the capture and raising of white tailed deer and elk, as well as forbidding the raising of red deer.

Source: Statistics Canada

8. Sheep production static at 850,000

Canadian sheep production has been virtually static over the last 5 years at around 850,000. This compares to beef which is showing a slow increase in numbers to some 14.5 million, and to hogs which are showing significant increases to 12.1 million. Exhibit 15 shows this.

(JULY 1ST, HEAD 000)

Source: Statistics Canada

The Canadian sheep industry although profitable, and marketing everything it can produce, has shown no real growth.

9. Global sheep production is increasing

Exhibit 16 shows the growth of sheep production among the major sheep producing nations. The major sheep producing nations are China and India. China out produces Australia and New Zealand combined, producing some 240 million head, while Australia produces 121 million and New Zealand some 50 million. India produces over 160 million. This all compares to Canada’s 850,000 head.

Source: USDA Agricultural Statistics

10. Canada exports some 44,000 live sheep to the US

Canada runs a small trade surplus on live sheep with the US. Canada exports some 44,500 head and imports some 27,200. This is shown in Exhibit 17. While some of the sheep imported and exported are pure bred breeding stock, the bulk of the trade is seasonal to provide fresh lamb during the year.

Source: Statistics Canada

11. US sheep and horse production declining while goat production has tripled

US sheep production has shown a 20% decline in the last decade, falling to 4.8 million. During the same period, horse production rose from 128,000 to 294,000 and slumped back down to 115,000. Goat production has during the same period increased from 124,000 to 351,000. This is shown in Exhibit 18.

The increase in goat production is due to the increased immigration of Latin Americans to the United States. The dramatic decline in horse numbers is consistent with the rise and fall in popularity of the riding horse industry.

Source: USDA Agricultural Statistics

12. Global ostrich production growing

Ostrich production has been spreading around the world. Production has spread from South Africa, to other African countries, to North America and now to Australia and China. Exhibit 19 shows this.

Production is however primarily South African. South Africa slaughtered 273,000 birds in 1996, more ostrich than the rest of the world combined. This number translates into some 12,000 mt. of carcasses. The primary market is for leather with only a fraction of the meat being marketed for human consumption. The bulk of ostrich meat produced is used to make meat meal to be fed back to other ostriches. (In light of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalitis) problems in Europe, this type of feeding practise is no longer acceptable in Europe and North America.) Germany is thought to be taking as much as 2,000 mt. of meat, much of it being imported through Belgium and Switzerland.

(EST. NUMBERS, 1996)

Source: American Ostrich Association, Statistics Canada, EU Commission, China Trade Office, Simba Enterprises Ltd.

Britain is unique in that it is one of the few markets that is selling ratite meats through retail distribution channels. Exhibit 20 shows that TESCO and other large supermarkets are distributing the product.

Japan is the largest buyer of South Africa’s tanned skins production. They buy almost 60% of the worlds production. This is shown in Exhibit 21. Japan buys some 87 mt. of skins worth some $46.7 million US. Japan however buys very little meat. Japan is purchasing some 20 mt. This is shown in Exhibit 22.

Source: PROMAR International

The second largest buyer of skins is the US. This is shown in Exhibit 23.

Ostrich production in China is expected to make major inroads into the leather market as it has been building its bird populations for the last five years. China is clearly interested in new sources of protein, as well as making and selling labour intensive and high valued ostrich leather products.

Source: PROMAR International

Source: MITI Statistical Survey

*Mainly ostrich from South Africa, but includes some Emu from the US.

Local production from 40 farms

In this chapter we reviewed Canadian and specific global specialty livestock production trends. The following chapter outlines future potentials for specialty livestock.

V      SPECIALTY LIVESTOCK SECTORS

In this chapter the potentials for each of the specialty livestock sectors are highlighted.

The bison industry has considerable potential to develop as one of the new red meats. Bison have a number of advantages which many of the other species do not. These advantages include:

Slow development. The slow reproductive growth of the animals and hence the industry has allowed the bison industry to learn from the mistakes of other new meats such as ratites, which had immediate marketing problems because of their high reproduction rate. But more importantly, bison marketing has history; it has had more time to develop. It has had many false starts and failures over the post war period and managed to survive. Bison is an "old-new" industry.

Indigenous stock. The fact that the stock is native to the great plains means that it is naturally adapted. This adaptation means that they are easier to raise than other livestock under prairie conditions.

Better overall organization. The industry has managed, whether intentionally or by luck, to develop a better organization structure than other species. This is partly due to the nature of the livestock producers who have entered the business. Bison is not "easy entry" like some of the other specialty livestock. It has a higher investment cost than other specialties. (Bison require land, and fencing as compared to some of the other specialty animals which require minimal investment in land. Moreover their physical size and difficulty in handling has been a disincentive for many part-timers.) This need for land investment and handling has kept many non-livestock people from directly entering the industry. Many have however invested in the industry by becoming shareholders in bison operations. (Bison operations appear to have more outside investors than many of the other specialty livestock businesses.)

Greater vertical integration. The industry has more vertical integration between production and processing than any of the other species. Producers such as North Country, Bouvry, R. C. Western Meats, Durham Ranches and North American Bison Co-op are all integrated operations. These integrated operations account for almost 80% of North American bison marketing.

Export potential - Since the animal is indigenous, and in historic short supply, bison production has not expanded around the world like red deer. It leaves open the opportunity to export finished product or live animals in the future.

Analogous to beef - Permits existing beef grading and beef slaughter plants to be utilized. No new domestic or international standards need to be developed.

Market for the product - Bison currently are selling all the product they can slaughter. Seasonally, the market is ahead of production.

EU approved processing facilities - EU approved facilities exist in Canada and the US.

Building on these advantages, the bison industry is in a buoyant and expansionary mood.

For bison to break through and become more of a mainstream red meat, price and quality needs to come closer to that of beef. The factors affecting bison meat prices are:

For many consumers the product is to close to beef in taste. This has caused many buyers to feel that the product is not worth the price differential. The fact that the animal is being feedlotted much like beef cattle has, they say, "changed the natural taste."

Low production volumes. Until animal numbers increase substantially, prices will remain high. These low volumes are affecting slaughter and distribution costs as well. Slaughter costs are three to four times the cost of beef, of equivalent weights.

High cost of breeding stock. The industry has yet to make the transition from raising and selling breeding stock to making the distinction between having a pure bred or quality breeding stock industry, and a commercial industry. The transition will be complete when the industry starts to slaughter the poorer conformation females.

High cost of fencing and maintaining farms. Bison require more grazing area and considerably better fencing than do cattle.

Industry desire to process their own stock. Currently, the industry is processing stock in a small plant. The North American Bison Co-operative plant in North Dakota is capable of processing some 10,000 animals per year. This amounts to a very small 40 animals a day. This compares with small beef processing plants such as Western Beef Packers in Moose Jaw who are processing some 700 per day. Large beef processing plants can handle some 3 - 5,000 animals per day.

As bison production matures, the major beef processors are all interested in processing and distributing bison. As a first step, packers are waiting for bison feedlots to develop so that animal quality becomes more consistent and prices fall, so that retail volumes will increase. All the major Prairie packers have an interest in processing bison since they are analogous to beef cattle. Apart from minor adjustments in the knocking area, an enclosed chute in the barn, and possibly some incoming animal handling adjustments, bison processing, marketing and distribution are easy add-ons to existing beef plants.

The bison industry needs to develop by-products markets in order to reduce the overall reliance on the red meat trade. Almost all of the bison’s current value is in meat. In order to reduce the stacking of all costs onto the retail meat price, a by-products business must be started so that the retail price of meat can be reduced. The kinds of by-products which might be developed are:

Hides and skin processing - The tanning and production of leather and hides based products such as: coats, luggage, belts, shoes and accessories. There are typically problems with the quality of skins caused by cuts, barbed wire scarring etc. which seriously discount the hide quality.

Horn and bone products - This includes the use of mestids to clean-up skulls, so that bleached skulls and horns can be sold as decorator items. Polished horn and bone can be utilized for an array of polished jewelry, knife handles and buttons.

Native and western memorabilia products - Products for native ceremonial use, drums etc.

Ideally, if all of the potential by-product items can be sold, as much as $1,000 in additional wholesale revenue is possible. The major constraint to by-product sales is volume. For products such as skins to generate revenue, chemical tanning of damage free hides is required. To get adequate numbers of high quality hides, there is need for a large selection of hides from which to choose, this requires volume.

The current market potential lies in 6 areas:

Export bison meats into Europe. Sales to England, France, and Germany all have potential for increase. This is to meet the needs of the high end tourism industry. Japan isn’t as good a market because of the high duty (42%) placed on beef and bison imports. Japan does have a larger HRI market than Europe and has probably a greater future potential once tariff reductions take place.

Native bison industry. The potential development of the native bison industry will increase overall marketable numbers. A number of native chiefs have stated that they will participate in raising buffalo on their reserves. Canadian native bands have access to US native owned breeding stocks.

Sales to specialty HRI market. Current production volumes can be consumed in the high end restaurant trade and in the special events HRI trade - such as fall fairs, rodeos etc. Much of the current US trade is built around these non-traditional markets such as fairs and rodeos.

Export of live animals. To sell animals as breeding stock to Europe, to take advantage of the frenzy for new livestock much as ostrich has been doing.

Pace of market development The market has been growing slightly faster than production growth. This has permitted prices to remain high, but more importantly it has given producers optimism. This may not always be the case.

Quality to be improved. There is no real consistency in production or grading among the various production integrators, hence some bison marketed is not as good as others. Each integrator is finishing product slightly differently. A common standard is required so that meat from all suppliers have the same consumer characteristics.

Bison have excellent potential to survive as a specialty meat. The issue for bison is not in finding new markets but in servicing and growing their existing markets, before trying to find any more customers.

The elk and white tailed deer industry is currently one of the healthiest of Saskatchewan’s specialty livestock sectors. The industry asked to not be included in the study because they didn’t think the industry was facing any serious problems. It has all the features which one wants in a healthy livestock sector. It has:

Strong markets for its main product - antler velvet. The Korean velvet trade is buoyant and growing. As Asian standards of living and incomes improve, velvet sales are expected to increase. (But this may not always be the case, since the Korean economy is very troubled. The Korean currency is expected to decline by at least 60%.)

The market for velvet is growing in North America and must be cultivated. The growth in natural nutritional supplements and the practice of naturopathy in North America is encouraging domestic buyers and processors to develop. The global market for velvet is estimated to be in the range of 2,500 mt.(wet weight), with the major producers being China, the old Soviet Union, followed by New Zealand. (New Zealand is producing some 470 mt. per year and generating some $65 million.)

Increasing domestic production. Production is increasing slowly through natural increase plus additions of animals from orphans and live capture.

Market for cull livestock, slaughter for meat or for sale to hunt farms. The legitimization of hunt farms, combined with the quality and vigor of Canadian stock appear to make Canadian raised elk and white-tailed deer marketable to hunters and hunt farms throughout the US.

Animals indigenous to the area, require a minimum of maintenance. Similar to bison, the animals are indigenous and have hardiness and endurance to survive Canadian winters and summers with a minimal management.

Time to develop the by-products market - meat. Meat may not always be the secondary revenue market for deer and elk. The industry is not yet at a stage of development in which it needs to restrain its breeding herd. The industry is at least 3 - 5 years away from needing to find markets in which to sell meat. The growing hunt farm markets will probably take the bulk of surplus and spent stock.

Producers can piggy-back meat sales on the experience of fallow deer and New Zealand red deer. Similar to mutton and lamb, the Saskatchewan industry can follow the New Zealand industry’s lead in the market development of "Cervena", a New Zealand branded venison, into the wholesale and retail distribution system. Cervena has undertaken the training of chefs and retail meat managers on how to handle and cook frozen venison. Saskatchewan can market fresh venison in place of frozen. Cervena have however begun to market some 15% of it’s North American export as fresh chilled. This will enhance its reputation for quality consistency. These quality and service features will be hard to match.

The problem with this strategy is that Cervena has not made as much of an inroad into the Canadian market as has lamb. This means there is a much smaller market footprint in which to follow.

 

The markets for venison in Canada and the United States are growing slowly. This slow growth is due to a number of factors such as:

Difficulty in selling venison when there is sport hunting Venison consumers prefer to spend money for the thrill of the hunt, rather than spend an equivalent amount on the purchase of venison.

Venison sales appear to be seasonal, following hunting season. Many wholesalers will only handle venison during the fall and winter seasons.

New Zealand venison is expensive, but of high relatively consistent quality. New Zealand industry is large and growing but primarily aimed at the large German market. In North America, some of the largest buyers of venison are North American specialty game distributors. Some of these distributors, such as Durham Ranches, have made direct investment into the New Zealand industry. (It should be noted that Durham is the second largest bison rancher, in North America, in addition to operating one of the top five, full service game wholesale and distribution companies in the United States.)

Saskatchewan fallow deer have not managed to make serious market inroads. Fallow deer do not appear to have the producer or market acceptance of red deer, white-tailed deer or elk in the velvet and meat markets. Fallow deer are physically smaller, and hence relatively more expensive to process for meat or velvet.

 

The New Zealand industry is large and growing. New Zealand produces some one million deer generating almost $200 million US in exports. Venison comprises $130 million while velvet and hides generates some $70 million.

The largest markets for venison are in Europe. Germany is the world’s largest buyer of venison. The German market consumes some 20,000 mt. per year. This market is, however, being seriously eroded by the flow of low priced eastern European stock.

The Japanese HRI trade is not a major market. In volume terms it imports 142 tonnes.

In order to develop markets for elk and white-tailed deer, emphasis should be on expanding the North American market for pharmacological and naturopathic products. This development can be undertaken by:

Working with major vitamin and supplements makers and marketers such as Jamieson and Swiss Herbal. These companies are major processors of high quality natural vitamins and supplements. Joint-venture or contract production opportunities exist.

Verifying pharmacological benefits and contra-indicators.

Developing new products, through purification, concentration, or through production of compound nutritional blends to enhance benefits, i.e. Vitamin C and velvet etc.

By expanding the local processing of velvet, a competitive countervailing market can be developed to reduce the uncertainty and variability in pricing and grading offered by Korean velvet buyers. Prices vary from $100 per pound, down to $45. Moreover future instability in the Korean economy and possible currency devaluation will make it harder for the Koreans to purchase product.

The sale of velvet to Korean and Hong Kong agents is similar to that experienced by Canadian ginseng growers. Ginseng growers have been subjected to :

Price instability. Prices can vary by 60% between years.

Prices swings wildly between different buyers and processors. Similar product can bring wildly different prices from competitive buyers.

Grading varies by buyer and year.

Middlemen and agents abound. Producers never know where they stand and who is bona fide.

Although the industry is in good shape, more certainty and control over one’s own destiny in the velvet industry is clearly desirable and possible. Unless velvet sales can be expanded, the industry will be forced to compete for a very slow growing domestic and export venison market.

Saskatchewan fallow deer producers are the exact opposite of white-tailed deer and elk producers - the industry is troubled. This specialty livestock sector has been unable to establish a market for its prime product - venison.

Fallow deer have suffered problems from the outset. Most of these problems however do not appear to have ever been addressed. These include:

Varying provincial legislation. Fallow deer cannot be raised in Alberta, hence one of the better Provincial breeding stock markets has been closed.

Industry has been overcapitalized. Many producers paid too much money for their initial breeding stock when they entered the business.

Lack of markets. Markets for venison have never been large, and there has been no concerted attempts by the industry to coordinate promotion and marketing.

Industry participants don’t get along. In many agricultural sectors, personal rivalries can get in the way of doing business. This appears to be one of those sectors.

 

Fallow deer do not appear to have the producer or market acceptance of red deer, white-tailed deer or elk in the velvet and meat markets. Fallow deer are physically smaller, and hence relatively more expensive to process for meat and velvet. Fallow deer have not managed to make serious market inroads.

It appears that fallow deer producers who have managed to find markets are farm gating their animals. This has meant:

Local or provincially inspected slaughter is taking place. This restricts the marketing of fallow deer to in-province.

Many producers are sending stock to slaughter since they are not making enough money to justify the feeding costs of overwintering their animals. This means that product is being dumped.

Markets in other parts of Canada and the United States have never materialized in the face of New Zealand imports, and locally raised and farmgated fallow and red deer.

Circumstances of individual producers vary. Some are doing better than others, but no one interviewed was doing well. On an overall basis while there may be markets for individuals to farmgate, there appear to be insufficient markets for Saskatchewan fallow deer to develop into an industry.

Game birds were not adequately represented in this study since we have never been able to contact any of the Association executive. We suspect that the Association has disbanded.

The Saskatchewan game bird industry is subdivided into 2 sections. These sections are:

Hobbyist This group includes, Fanciers, Hunters, and Conservationists.

Commercial. Producing meat for consumption.

While the bulk of the industry is comprised of hobbyists, it is this last group of commercial producers in whom we are most interested.

Commercial production exists for virtually every major species of fowl: guinea fowl, pheasant, squab, quail, and duck. Each market is distinct and different.

The commercial production of game birds is an area in which Canadian firms excel. Canadian companies are North American market leaders in:

Guinea fowl - Pintelle Farms, of Toronto, Ontario supply guinea fowl throughout North America. They are the largest and are considered to be the premier producer. They market some 400,000 birds per year, as well as supplying chicks to other producers in the US and Canada. They control production all the way from importing hybrid hatching eggs, to undertaking processing line quality control and packing. The Company contracts growers to raise their chicks, and then contracts slaughter to a specialist abattoir. They do however send in their own staff to undertake quality control over processing and packing.

Pintelle have reduced guinea fowl production from 25 weeks to market weight, down to 12 weeks. (This improvement although substantial is still double that of chicken to reach the same market weight.) More importantly guinea fowl have been genetically altered to permit year round breeding, which many of the other game birds such as pheasant have not achieved. This allows the production and sale of fresh product year round.

Pheasant - there are two well known producers from Ontario. Van Vooren Game Farms produce pheasant for the Canada and US HRI, and cruise boat trade. Flintshire Farms specialize in pheasant export. They export 75% of their production to Japan. The two firms produce some 500,000 birds.

Duck - Brome Lake Duck, from Quebec have taken a large share of the North American HRI duck trade.

The major HRI trade is being serviced by large specialist firms such as Pintelle. Specialist firms exist in the other species such as Cavendish from Vermont, who produce quail. All of these firms are large and are sophisticated producers and marketers of birds. They have established reputations for consistency of product, quality, innovation, and service. They all sell their fowl as branded product.

Market potential exists for Saskatchewan producers. Producers can supply the Canadian and US ethnic markets. These markets have been growing along with immigration. We are seeing in Canada growth in markets for:

Squab - there are three ethnic communities, one Chinese, one Middle Eastern and one for the European trade. The growth has been in the Chinese and Middle Eastern trade. Suppliers in Ontario are marketing 70,000 squab into the ethnic Chinese market in Toronto. This means that the Chinese markets in Toronto and Vancouver are probably consuming in excess of 100,000 squab in an oven ready state - gutted, head off, feet off. The US West Coast market is the largest Chinese and Middle Eastern market.

Quail - this market has potential for domestic and export sales of eggs and meat.

Silkies - have a large following amongst the Chinese community.

There are other markets for birds such as pheasants, and peacocks for the raise and release hunt trade, and a growing market for value-added poultry products such as pate.

Goat producers may, after many false starts, be on the verge of having an industry. Goat production has been a classic for specialty livestock in that there were always opportunities for a few individuals, but the market niches were never large enough to develop an industry. The markets for goat meat and milk (fluid and cheese) may finally have become large enough to require a province wide approach. The goat fiber market has never developed beyond a hobbyist market.

Currently Saskatchewan production is very small. Production amounts to some 1,000 slaughter animals. Small production has meant variable quality, inconsistent prices, no consumer knowledge or preference, and low returns to producers. Most goats are sold farmgate or marketed through the Sheep Development Board.

Numbers have not been large enough to develop much of an industry. For a small industry to develop, a more systematic production specialization is required. For producers of meat or milk, consistency is required. This means uniformity of:

Breeds - Standardize on a few breeds or crosses, so that the conformation, muscling, weight gains etc. are more uniform, and quality to the buyer becomes more consistent. New meatier breeds are available such as Boer and Serrana, that are almost twice the weight of some of the existing breeds.

Age - Animals marketed should be of similar ages so that there are some market standards in weight and muscling. (The industry isn’t sufficiently well developed to permit meat goat buyers to buy underfed animals, as short-keep feeders, such as in the beef cattle industry. In goats, if an animal is underweight, it is sold and slaughtered underweight, since there are no goat feedlots.)

Management - Part-time producers are not paying attention to quality and cost issues, so they do not market uniformly consistent carcasses. This means that quality animals such as Boer goats are underpriced by buyers, to compensate for overpayment on lots with poorer quality animals.

The need is to get greater consistency in quality and supply, if the meats are to become mainstream.

If the production quality remains erratic, the only markets for the meat are in the Canadian ethnic markets. In most consumer sectors there is never a market for poor quality - but goats are different. Ethnic goat buyers have not been used to eating high quality goat meats. They have recipes that can handle tough, smelly, too large, too small, young or very old carcasses. Jamaicans for example prefer to eat goat not as roast, but as curry, or in a roti. Meats are boiled, and food preparation technique appears to be the great quality equalizer. The increase in Caribbean immigrants as well as immigrants from Greece and the Middle East are all used to eating variable quality goat meat.

Goat meat will not become mainstream with Canadians until carcass size, and meat quality improves, so that steaks can be cut from the carcass. In the meantime the growing ethnic community can take all the meat, and much of the milk and cheese produced.

F. HORSE COMPRISES LARGEST SPECIALTY

Canadian horse meat sales are almost as large as the rest of the specialty livestock sector combined. Canadian horse sales are in excess of $50 million. All sales are export, to Japan, France, and Belgium. Saskatchewan supplies about 4,000 horses per year, of this number some 4 -500 are fattened in local Saskatchewan feedlots.

1. Horse meat exports difficult

Horse meat sales to Japan are extremely complex. The Japanese have over 40 different grades for horsemeat, depending on marbling and other quality factors, such as freshness. The top grade of horsemeat is a special heavy horse, which is purchased at around 1,500 pounds and then fattened up to around 2,500 pounds. There is opportunity to feedlot this larger, heavy horse for the Japanese market. Currently Japanese horse buyers, buy fat horses in Canada, the US and Australia for live export back to Japan for this final heavy finishing.

2. Japanese market is very large

Japanese market consumed some 36,873 mt. of horsemeat in 1996. Of this consumption, some 3,260 tonnes came from Canada, in the form of frozen and fresh chilled horsemeat. Other suppliers to the Japanese market are Australia at 3,311 mt., and China with 3,200 mt.

Japan produces some 5,718 mt. of horsemeat, or almost 20% of consumption. This production is from the Kumamoto area. Kumamoto horsemeat is considered the highest quality and is the most expensive. It is priced up to $50 a pound. Horsemeat sushi and sashimi are seasonal products that are very popular in the fall.

3. France, Belgium are also large consumers of horsemeat

The European horsemeat market consumes some 120,000 mt. per year. Per capita horsemeat consumption in France is equivalent to Canadian consumption of lamb, about 1.2 lbs. per capita.

Bouvry from Alberta supplies some 5,696 tonnes or $33 million to Europe.

4. Horse industry dwindling

The horse industry is slowly drying up in North America. The industry was originally fed by spent work and riding horses. This supply was supplemented by horses coming from PMU (pregnant mare urine) operations. There are 487 PMU operations in the Prairies. In the last five years, the industry has seen riding horse popularity decline, as well as seeing a movement by the PMU industry to try to sell more of its spent stock as riding horses instead of slaughter stock. The slaughter of horses has many critics, making the industry a little secretive and testy. The PMU industry wishes to make their operations as controversy free as possible.

This dwindling supply has led to industry restructuring. The Japanese have sold their interest in Alsask Packers in Alberta (Edmonton Meat Packers) and a large Belgian company has consolidated it’s North American horse operations into Texas, closing a 4,000 head horse feedlot in Midland, Ontario.

G. LLAMAS AND ALPACA BUSINESS IN INFANCY

The llama and alpaca businesses are going through the initial breeding stock phase of development. Many of the producers have yet to attempt to market animals for anything other than breeding stock.

1. Potential may not be great

Both llama and alpaca futures are not particularly rosy. Llama are thought to have a market in the guiding and packing industry, since their feet have soft foot pads, which are physically less damaging to the environment. The problem, however, is :

Outdoor hiking and guiding is not a large industry in Canada or Saskatchewan. Trekking into the high country is a huge business in Colorado and Arizona, requiring large numbers of guides, outfitters, and pack animals. Trekking is not a major tourism business in Saskatchewan or Canada.

The Western tradition of horses, for trail rides etc. is deep seated and hard to displace. Companies such as Brewsters, in Banff offer this type of tourism service.

Industrial uses of the animals by prospectors and survey crews etc. has not materialized.

Other potential markets such as patrolling and herding sheep may be a good market if the shepherding of sheep were a growing industry. Sheep production is at best static. More importantly, the direction of the sheep industry is towards confinement rearing and feedlotting as opposed to free range grazing.

It appears that the single largest business for llama and alpaca have been in providing rides for children at petting zoos and amusement parks. However, once again, this market is adequate for an individual, but not sufficiently large to provide market outlets for an entire industry.

2. Fiber business is hobbyist only

Other markets such as alpaca fiber have yet to be developed. Currently, the fiber business appears to be hobbyist only. No commercial weaving and dying industry has developed in Canada based on alpaca wool. There are small companies set up to provide wool cleaning and dying services on a small scale basis. One such firm is in Innisfail, Alberta.

Clearly, this specialty livestock sector is new to Saskatchewan and will take some time to fund and develop into a market niche.

H. RATITE INDUSTRY IN A WORLD OF HURT

The ratite industry is in deep trouble. It is an industry which because of the sheer fecundity of the birds, has grown to market maturity before learning how to walk. Livestock numbers can grow geometrically, as opposed to arithmetically. Most producers and the industry itself, all being new, have had difficulty learning, understanding and then adjusting fast enough to keep pace with the potential increase in stock numbers. The industry grew from a breeding stock industry (and the frenzy of high stock prices,) into a commercial meat industry in about 5 years. This fast rise has trapped producers trying to sell large volumes of commercial meats at breeding stock prices. Unfortunate for the industry has been the absolute reluctance of the wholesale/retail meat trade to accept these prices. Retailing of ratite meats has, as a result, never grown beyond a farmgate market. While farmgate sales appear to be growing, they are not growing fast enough to develop into an industry.

1. Industry is overly competitive

There is excess competition among producers. This excess competition is a sign of a poor market. For example, a restaurant might start to sell ostrich dinners, but when the word gets out to producers, the restaurateur is inundated by other producers who will supply their meat cheaper. Almost all of the restaurants selling meats said they had experienced this phenomena. Many restaurants dropped ostrich meat from their menus because of this "hassle" factor.

2. Industry must sort itself out

In addition to rivalry among producers, is the rivalry amongst species - ostrich, emu and rhea. The crux of the problem is that the ratite industry is a zero-sum game; each species’ greatest competitor is the other - if one gains market share, the other must lose. On a technical basis, the ratite problem is analogous to a battle in the beef industry between large Limousines, smaller Angus and very small Holstein veal calves. While they sell in slightly different markets they are all red meats. What is lost in the competition are that:

The non-farm costs, i.e. the marketing margins are as important, or more important, than the producer’s cost of production. These are the cost of kill, distribution and marketing etc. The meat industry cost structure favours ostrich. (If the cost of slaughter is a fixed price of $100 per bird, an 80 lbs. dressed weight ostrich has a slaughter cost of $1.25 per pound; while a 35 lbs. dressed weight emu has a cost of close to $2.85 per lbs., or more than twice as much per pound. This compares to the cost of slaughter for a 1200 pound beef animal that dresses out at 660 lbs., and has a slaughter cost of around $75 per animal or 11 cents a pound.)

Consumers only spend a certain amount of their food budget on meats. (Ratites are hardly consumer value when it is considered that a $3 per lbs. wholesale slaughter cost translates into a $6 per lbs. retail cost. The cost of kill, exclusive of the price of meat or store mark-ups, is greater than the retail price of most meats, and all but the most expensive beef cuts and seafood.) At these prices the meat is a novelty - a special occasion item.

 

3. Export markets not developing

The export markets for ratites have not materialized. Export of ostrich and emu meats to Europe and Japan have always been viewed as possible. But time is showing the ratite breeding stock frenzy has hit these target markets and that indigenous production has begun. Clearly, the intention of exporting away domestic production surpluses will not work.

More importantly, the growth of production in other target countries is only slightly behind our own stage of growth. This means that unless we have an absolute comparative advantage, we may not be exporters at all but might instead end up as importers. Two examples are outlined below:

Japan has developed an integrated production and marketing operation for ostrich. Okinawa based Ostrich Industries, an ostrich production (1,000 birds) and processing company has set-up a chain of "African" theme restaurants which feature ostrich meats. These restaurants cater to the more adventurous Japanese consumer and to the high end tourism customer. The Japanese HRI market is the largest spending in the world. It is this sheer size which makes it possible to support these types of novelty restaurants. Japan imports about 15 tonnes of ostrich and emu meat from South Africa and the US.

The German market is undergoing similar development to the Japanese. The production industry is growing based on a sale of ostrich to high end restaurants. The German production industry is at a similar stage of development. Germany is the largest buyer of South African ostrich meat.

At the prices which the industry is trying to sell ostrich and emu meats, only Japan and Germany can afford to buy. These markets appear to be satisfied. It should be noted that South Africa sells meat for less than half the price which US ostrich ($4.50 / lbs.) asks for in Japan.

4. Ontario ratite markets not developing

The Ontario ratite industry is the most advanced in Canada. The industry has an active trade association, plus a processing co-operative to handle their own processing. The plant is Federal and provisional EU licensed. In spite of having the infrastructure in place, as well as access to the largest Canadian consumer market, sales have not materialized.

The CEMU cooperative is similar to the North American Bison Co-op. It contracts slaughter in St. Annes, Ontario at a packing plant in which it has invested. We understand that the co-op has not managed to process more than 1,600 emu. Of this slaughter, only $100,000 in meat, and $42,000 in oil has been sold. More significantly, the industry has some $600,000 in meat inventory aging in the freezer. Much of this inventory due to age, is reaching a condemnation point.

The cost of slaughter being charged by the CEMU co-operative is $100 per bird. This high kill cost works out to almost $3 per pound. The slaughter cost is virtually the same per pound, as the feed cost. This means that emu meat must be sold wholesale at almost $6 per pound just to cover basic costs. Typical wholesale prices for emu are in the range of $13 plus per pound. This wholesale price is higher than the wholesale price of live lobster and crab. At these high prices, ratites have had problems finding customers in the HRI sector and very real problems gaining acceptance in the home.

The market for rabbit is growing. Rabbit sales are increasing because of the ethnic market growth, as well as inroads into regular retail sales. More importantly, rabbit has the potential to be exported into the Japanese market.

1. Ontario and Quebec major Canadian markets

Rabbit has become a trendy new meat at the HRI level, and has crossed over from the ethnic markets into regular retail. Rabbit is being marketed for use in the same way as chicken. Rabbit is one of the easiest specialty meats to cook.

It is priced at retail, in the same range as chicken breasts and other higher valued chicken parts. Retail prices vary from around $2.80 to $3.50 a pound.

Consumption of rabbit is around 150 gms. per capita in Quebec, (as compared to France where it is 3 Kgs./cap.)

2. Two markets exist for rabbits

The largest market for rabbit is for food, but there is an interesting sideline market for live rabbits - in research. Rabbits are used in large numbers for research. As much as 10% of the market has been going for live animal testing by pharmaceutical and cosmetics firms. This later trade in live rabbits is quite specialized and high valued. Much of this live trade is raised under long term contract.

The pharmaceutical industry is also a buyer of rabbit brains, a by-product of processing. Sufficient volume is necessary to undertake this business. An Arkansas based company Pel-Freeze have developed a blood clotting test kit utilizing an acetone extract from rabbit brains.

3. Export market in Japan

Japan is one of the largest markets for rabbit. The Japanese market takes some 4,000 tonnes per year. In 1996 Japan bought some $15 million of Chinese frozen rabbits for use as a meat extender and filler. Rabbit meat is substituted for pork or beef in sausages etc. In this way they have a lower priced all meat, no cereal product. This market fluctuates with the price of the red meat. When red meat prices increase the demand for imported rabbit increases. The Japanese have tried using imported wild Australian rabbit, because the price is lower, but have found the flavour of wild rabbit to be too gamey.

For Saskatchewan to access this market, they would need to be able to assemble minimum container shipments, or to piggy-back the rabbit on the back of pork or wild boar shipments destined to Japan. The rabbit buyers are the same companies currently buying pork from Saskatchewan, such as Itoham.

4. US west coast market

The market for rabbit is growing in the HRI trade in California. Much of he rabbit going into trade has come from British Columbia suppliers and from China. China is selling frozen rabbit at very sharp prices of around $2.00 each, for a dressed, frozen 4 pound rabbit. (This compares to a Toronto price for fresh rabbit of $2.50 per pound wholesale.) The California market is comprised of ethnic European and Chinese buyers.

5. Need for a small processing plant

Since there is no local or regional processing plant, Saskatchewan producers are hauling their rabbits to Ontario or B.C. for slaughter and sale. If exports are contemplated at all, a small processing plant is required.

The fact that producers can afford to make small shipments of rabbits to Ontario, to suffer the mortality, shrink, and transport cost and still show a profit is indication that there is strength in the retail market.

6. Single purpose processing plant possible

The cost of putting up a processing facility is low. A single purpose Federal inspected plant can be put together for as little as $150,000 to $200,000 including a building. A low cost dedicated plant of this size can be financially viable when operated on as little as one week per month.

An added feature to the plant’s operation is that rabbit is exempt from Federal inspection for export to the US since it is classed as game. This is shown in the Appendices.

The sheep industry has not marketed well. It is unique as a specialty livestock sector in that it has continuously underachieved; it has never met its potential and yet, it survives and shows producer profitability.

1. Sheep industry is slowly declining

The Saskatchewan industry has shown production to be in the range of 35,000 basic stock per year. While there are minor fluctuations, livestock numbers have not changed much over time.

2. Can sell entire production

Producers have been able to market all of their stock either through the Sheep Development Board or through farmgate sales. The industry may not make as much money as they would like, but will continue to survive.

Depending on the year, from 20 to 30% of sales appear to be farmgate. If the industry wishes to grow, it must redirect sales away from farmgate to sell through the traditional wholesale and retail system. This later option may be forced on the industry with the introduction of a large scale sheep feedlot in Regina. Many of the producers who were selling lambs farmgate, will now have the option to sell to a feedlot.

Most of Saskatchewan’s lambs are slaughtered in Alberta or in Ontario. Lambs and culls are sold into the ethnic (Greek and Italian) lamb trade in Ontario. This export of fed lambs into Ontario will continue, since it is unlikely that their will ever be a large increase in production to justify a standalone slaughter plant. Slaughter of sheep on a one or two day a month (400 per day) basis with another processor, such as Western Beef Packers is probably as good as the industry will get.

The Canadian and Saskatchewan sheep industry have never marketed lamb well. If it weren’t for the New Zealand Sheep Board (and some by Ontario) doing promotions and advertising, there would be little promotion at all. The Canadian industry has managed to sell on the backs of the New Zealand frozen product, and sell based on our ability to deliver "fresher" lamb in season. But, in our out-of-season periods the trade has to revert back to New Zealand product. The industry will not progress further until year round production is started.

3. Religious marketing an opportunity

Specialty religious marketing is a new opportunity. The growth in immigration has created a new market for fresh lamb and for cull heavy sheep. The growth of the Muslim community has opened markets for religious festive day lamb and goat sales. Halal slaughtered product as well as live animals for home slaughter offer new product outlets. To meet these markets, occurring at the end of Ramadan and the end of Eid will require out-of-season breeding in order to time the market. Australia has ships chartered solely for this holiday market. They are set-up to deliver live sheep into Saudi Arabia and Emirate States markets. Saskatchewan producers could do something similar for the various Canadian and US market locations.

The largest Muslim markets are in Los Angeles, New York and Toronto.

4. Consumption trends moving away from lamb and mutton

The consumption of lamb is slowly declining because of the inability of consumers to find consistent, flexible, forgiving and quick products from which to make a meal. The fact that lamb comes only in chops, leg, shoulder and other traditional cut forms, that have none of the "consumer needs" is a drag on marketing. Lamb needs to be made :

Flexible - by making it ground. So that it can be made into burgers, spaghetti sauce, Sloppy Joes etc.

Quick - easy to thaw and utilize. Currently, lamb must be left out in the morning to be thawed for supper. This makes it impossible for 20 minute meals. This means a new form of meat cut will be required. These might include a diced lamb, small cubes of lamb that are quickly thawed and useable . The diced pieces might be the size of frozen peas. These diced pieces might be used in stir fry, soups, tacos etc.

Cheaper - Make better use of off-cuts, like front shoulders. It might be cuts such as this which might be diced, or deboned and spiced and sold oven ready.

There are no fast food restaurants menus built around lamb. There are themes built around chicken (KFC, Swiss Chalet, Popeyes etc.) around beef (Steak and Burger, McDonalds, etc.) and around fish (Arthur Treachers, Red Lobster), but none based on pork or lamb. Until there are lamb dishes which can be quickly and easily put together using low skilled staff and yet retaining consistent quality, lamb consumption with the general public will not grow.

Current market trends at the home and HRI levels are moving away from the sheep industry. The industry may not have many choices left, but to resort to the ethnic market for future growth.

There are three base markets for wild boar. They are:

High end HRI trade in Canada

High end HRI in export markets

Wild boar hunting on hunt farms.

 

The HRI trade is only starting for wild boar.

The sale of wild boar in Canadian HRI markets is very small. The primary sale is farmgate. Most producers are having to market the product since there are not enough HRI brokers and distributors wishing to handle it. (There are only a few game wholesalers and distributors who are capable of making some sort of business by wholesaling game. One of the larger Canadian wholesalers is McGregors Meat and Seafoods.)

The export of wild boar is more hit and miss. This is because the major markets for wild boar are in Europe. The European trade, especially the German and French markets are receiving low priced product from Eastern Europe. The European market is about 15,000 mt.

The Japanese market is based on their tourism HRI trade. The market is sufficiently large that 3 or 4 containers will be consumed. Currently Saskatchewan wild boar is going into the Japanese market. The largest Asian market is Korea. Korea typically imports some 1,500 mt.

 

Wild boar genetics is cause of a controversy. The Western Canadian wild boar has more domestic genes mixed into it than the Eastern Canadian boar. Domestic genetics enhance the farrowing rate of wild boar, but reduce the flesh color from a dark red to lighter reds almost pink. A controversy over blood lines is showing up between the Eastern Canadian producers and European markets which prefer the more natural darker fleshed animals.

This is clearly an issue for purist. Exports to Europe might be affected by this genetic issue, but since there is no EU approved packer who can process wild boar, this may not be an issue. Most Canadian HRI buyers do not know the difference.

The problem of wild boar escapees will draw more attention in the future. This is because escapees are causing rural and urban environmental damage.

It is known that boar have become feral in Manitoba during the floods of 1997. Boar were already known to be loose in Saskatchewan and Alberta. The premise has been that the boar would not survive much more than a generation, since the winters would be too harsh for young boar to survive. Examples in Quebec and in Alberta are showing that the boar piglets do survive. Manitoba has allready moved to ban production.

Problems created by feral pigs in other countries point to the potential environmental damages which the animals can inflict. Boar are similar to raccoons in that they are omnivorous, but where they differ from raccoons is their aggressiveness, size, intelligence and, more importantly, they root. It is this rooting which brings on environmental problems. But it is their size and aggressiveness which may cause the animals to be banned.

The escapee issue may affect the use of boar on hunt farms. It is legal to hunt boar on hunt farms in Quebec.

Wild boar are much like the other specialty livestock sectors. It has a large enough market potential for individual producers to do well but not enough potential around which to develop into an industry.

In summary, all of the specialty livestock groups have a number of things in common:

All have very high retail prices.

All are lean meats except for horse and sheep.

All have managed to find markets for product. Some have found more markets than others.

Most meat marketing is being done on a farmgate basis. Farmgate marketing is, at best, a transitional stage.

Those species with the most potential such as horse, bison, elk, rabbit, sheep and wild boar have also shown the most management. They are managed by stronger individuals, or have more cohesive organizations than those species showing less promise.

While there is immense interest on the part of producers to increase specialty red meat production such as deer; their is an equally large and compelling countervailing interest on the part of consumers to reduce red meat consumption. In this chapter we examine the overall potential to increase consumption of specialty red meats.

A. TOTAL MEAT CONSUMPTION IS DECLINING

Total meat consumption has declined from 102.2 kgs. per capita in 1976 to 89.4 kgs. per capita in 1996. Over the last 20 years, total Canadian red meat consumption has declined from 82.2 kgs. per capita to 58.6 kgs. per capita. This declining trend is sufficiently strong that it has offset the increase in white meat consumption, which rose from 20 kgs. per capita to 30.8 kgs. per capita, causing total meat consumption to decline. Exhibit 24 shows this.

This declining overall consumption trend is likely to accelerate. Projections show total meat consumption to fall from the current level of 89.4 kgs. per capita to around 80.0 kgs. per capita by the year 2002. There are a number of reasons for this decline. These include:

The overall aging of the Canadian population. Over 25% of the population is expected to be over the age of 55. Older people are known to eat less meat.

Consumers are eating more fish due to health factors, such as the availability of Omega 6 amino acids.

Overall consumption of proteins is gravitating towards more fiber based foods such as pulses and cereals, and to dairy based protein foods such as cheese.

Red meat sales will likely fall further in Canada, when the poultry supply management marketing boards begin to loose their grip on the Canadian industry. It is expected that poultry sales will rise to almost US consumption levels. For example, US chicken consumption is 25% higher than Canada, while turkey consumption is 100% higher. This is shown in Exhibit 25.

US chicken consumption has surpassed both beef and pork consumption becoming the meat of choice for Americans.

Source: StatsCan, Apparent Per Capita Consumption

Exhibit 25 also shows that lamb consumption in the US is slightly lower than it is in Canada. Canadian consumption amounts to 0.8 kgs. per capita while it is only 0.6 kgs. per capita in the US. In other areas Canadian consumption more closely parallels US consumption patterns.

Source: USDA

B. GLOBAL COMPARISONS SHOW INCREASING WHITE MEAT CONSUMPTION

Exhibit 26 shows red and white meat consumption for the major meat consuming countries. White meat consumption is increasing in all countries. Of interest in poultry consumption is the number of Asian countries which are consuming as much or more poultry than Canada.

Beef consumption is on a clearly declining trend. All countries are showing serious declines in consumption.

Pork shows more mixed results, with some countries increasing consumption while others are decreasing. Pork consumption is rising in Europe. More interesting is the high level of pork consumption in Taiwan.

Compiled by USDA

Taiwan consumes some one third more pork, and almost as much chicken as Canada.

Lamb and mutton consumption is trending downward in the major consuming countries.

In summary, the overall trends in meat consumption are not particularly positive for specialty livestock. It means that specialty livestock will need to work harder in providing product value to consumers inorder to eek out market share in a declining market. The following chapter outlines changes in the distribution channels for meat, to offer explanation for the decline in red meat sales, and to define potential niches for specialty livestock meats.

This chapter outlines changes in the distribution channels for meats. The major changes are the growth of the foodservice industry and the development of new product areas such as home meal replacement.

A. FAST FOOD CONSUMPTION INCREASING

Food sales patterns in the HRI (hotel, restaurant, institutional) trade is a major new factor in meat consumption. This section outlines the increased strength of fast food restaurants in the Canadian market.

1. Fast food exceeds 35% of foodservice sales

Fast food has grown from 9.7 % (in 1960) of the industry up to 35.5 % of the industry in 1994. Every other HRI sector has declined. This is shown in Exhibit 27. This growth in sales is shown in a slightly different format in Exhibit 28. It shows "quick service" restaurants to have a 41.8% share of the dollars spent at foodservice, but a more commanding 59.5 % share of meal occasions (visits). This compares to the 7.2% of dollars spent at fine dining restaurants, and only 2.2% of meal occasions.

Exhibit 29 shows the average size of restaurant check. The average size check for quick service restaurants is $4.00, which compares to the fine restaurant average check of $20.19.

The problem for specialty livestock is that fine dining is the only logical venue for venison, ostrich, bison etc. because of the high wholesale price of meat. Specialty livestock meats are priced out of the fastest growing sector of the foodservice industry. The specialty livestock industry must find a cut or processed product, which they can fit into a $4.00 check, if it wishes to gain production volume.

The fast food industry is the most difficult sector for specialty livestock to penetrate. This is because of the industry’s need for :

Low cost base product

Source Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association

Source: CRFA 1997 Foodservice Facts

*Convenience stores, grocery stores, discount stores and department stores

Minimal meal preparation

Consistency in product

Off-site preparation, as much as possible

Low labour and skill requirement

Some of these necessary factors are almost impossible for specialty livestock to attain.

Source: CREST Canada

2. Less than half of top ten chains feature red meat

The ten largest franchise fast food service companies in Canada are shown in Exhibit 30. None of the fast food chains feature specialty livestock. More importantly, red meats are featured in less than half of the top franchises. And two of the top ten do not feature any kind of meat at all - TDL (donuts), and Yogen Fruz (yogurt).

3. Food service "share of stomach" stalled by GST

Exhibit 31 shows the "share of stomach" which the Canadian foodservice industry has taken. "Share of stomach" is the food market share between grocery stores (home consumption) and restaurant etc. (non-home consumption.) It shows that foodservice market share peaked in 1989, along with the economy, then plunged to 36.8% when the GST (Goods and Services Tax) was introduced in 1993. The Canadian foodservice industry has not recovered from the introduction of the GST.