May 24, 2023

Pork council official sanguine about Canadian pork industry's future despite challenges

Canada's pork industry continues to face roadblocks in rebuilding pork demand and prices, highlighted by the closure of an Olymel processing plant in Vallée-Jonction, Quebec, and a HyLife plant in Minnesota, the United States.

Stephen Heckbert, executive director of the Canadian Pork Council (CPC), said the closures don't necessarily need to be in Canada to impact the Canadian market, as the North American market is connected tightly.

There is a market for Canadian pork, but it's also about finding the right price point, said Heckbert. The current down-cycle is having "a particularly onerous impact on our processors at this moment," he noted.

It may be challenging now, but the future, said Heckbert, is looking quite positive.

"There's a large interest in Canadian pork products around the world," he said. "The plant slated for closure in December, there's lots of conversations to be had before now and then surrounding the Olymel plant, and lots of conversations about what's the right way for the Canadian industry to be ready to provide product to our global markets in a way that will let them buy it in an affordable way."

As far as Canada's future relationship with China — after being shut out from the Chinese market for a year-and-a-half — the council is hoping to build more direct relationships in China with an increased presence in the country.

"Canada Pork has hired a Chinese director to help with market access in China. So we know a lot of these relationships are going to have to be not at the political level, but much more at the official level," Heckbert said. "We're really trying to improve our relationship there, it's an important market, and is going to continue to be an important market.

"From our perspective, it needs some investing."

- RealAgriculture