By Susan Mann – Farm Credit Canada (FCC)
CFC spokesperson Lisa Bishop-Spencer says consumers wanted to know what the brand name means, “apart from the fact that it’s Canadian.”
Moreover, farmers wanted the brand to say more. Bishop-Spencer says farmers recognized the great story to tell consumers about the product they’re buying.
“The expanded Canadian-raised chicken brand means producers adhere to animal care, on-farm food safety and farm sustainably”
What expanded brand means
Launched earlier this fall, the expanded brand means farmers adhere to the national, mandatory on-farm food safety and animal care programs, and are committed to sustainable production in addition to the chicken being raised in Canada.
The brand now means “farmers are committed to these three things on top of everything else,” Bishop-Spencer says.
CFC has a program to ensure the chicken sold using the logo “is what we say it is,” she notes.
Responding to consumers
The brand was first developed because “consumers wanted to support Canadian product.” Furthermore, consumers wanted the assurance that the chicken they were buying is produced in Canada, by Canadian farmers, and wanted it to reflect as coming from a farmers’ group, rather than processors, retailers or restaurants.
With the expanded brand, CFC is responding to Canadians’ expectations of chicken farmers to have high standards, to follow them and “then prove that we’re doing it,” she notes.
The original Raised by a Canadian Farmer brand and logo was first launched almost three years ago to signify the chicken bearing it is produced in Canada. It’s now being used in 23 different grocery retailer and restaurant locations, including Walmart, Sobeys and Swiss Chalet.
The circular Raised by a Canadian Farmer logo features the brand name underneath a chicken in the centre of the circle, sporting a maple leaf on it. The expanded brand uses the same logo.
Farmers welcome change
British Columbia chicken farmer Derek Janzen says it’s a great idea to roll the animal care, on-farm food safety and sustainable production programs into the brand.
“For the consumer to see the Raised by a Canadian Farmer, it will mean to them that we have mandatory food safety, and we’re taking care of our animals with the animal care program,” says Janzen, who raises 780,000 birds a year.
The expanded brand will make it easier for consumers to “identify what we’re doing,” he adds.
Bottom line
The expanded Canadian-raised chicken brand means producers adhere to animal care, on-farm food safety and farm sustainably.
Source: Meatbusiness