Study takes a close look at new Canadians' meat preferences

Saturday, February 28, 2015

by SUSAN MANN

New Canadians are interested in buying veal, goat and lamb meat throughout the year and not just for religious holiday meals, according to a study released this week.

New Canadian consumers also preferred the taste and quality of Ontario-grown meat compared to imported products, the study indicates.

That's because they can obtain meat produced in the province fresh, a quality the study indicates they prefer "by far," says Jennifer Haley, executive director of Ontario Veal and Ontario Goat. "They perceive fresh meat to be of better quality."

By way of contrast, all imported veal, goat and lamb meat comes into Canada frozen, Haley says.

The study was released Wednesday at the Ontario Goat annual meeting in Tavistock. It was done by Integrity Intellectual Property Inc. of Lethbridge, Alberta and funded in part through Growing Forward 2, the national agricultural policy framework. It was commissioned by the Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency, Ontario Goat, Ontario Veal and Ontario Rabbit.

The study was done in the Greater Toronto Area, home to seven out of 10 immigrants in Ontario. According to a Feb. 27 press release from the farm groups, the study divided new Canadian consumers into six ethnic groups – African, Middle Eastern, South Asian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean and European. It included 700 consumer surveys, 42 focus group participants, and interviews with farmers, retailers and processors.

Haley says "these consumers are big meat eaters, they have a larger proportion of people in their families eating meat, and they sometimes have larger families."

The study found that veal was the most consumed meat by new Canadians followed by goat, lamb and mutton. Rabbit was the least consumed meat "due in part to lack of availability and visibility," the release says.

Haley says there are a lot of opinions and assumptions about new Canadian consumers "but we really wanted to be able to find out truly what is it they feel and want from our meat products. We also wanted to look at different ethnicities."

One thing the farm groups learned from the study is the perception that the biggest demand for their meat was for religious holiday meals isn't true. New Canadian consumers want to eat veal, goat and lamb for other celebrations, such as birthdays and anniversaries, and during other times of the week.

For farmers, the research is showing they need to target their product for a year-round supply along with for religious holidays, Haley says.

The next step for the farm groups is to go over the study in detail "and get into the specifics of each of the communities and be able to target how do we want to approach them moving forward," Haley says. "It's going to involve a value chain approach. Farmers will have to work with processors, retailers and the consumers of those communities." BF