Oh, oh!
Evidence of meeting #6 for Agriculture and Agri-Food in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was malt.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #6 for Agriculture and Agri-Food in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was malt.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:10 p.m.
Voices
Oh, oh!
4:10 p.m.
President, Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, General Manager , Alberta Barley Commission
Hulless barley, or food barley for human consumption, is less than 1% of the market share right now. What we've done is that we've gone ahead and got a health claim, which was obviously very rigorously vetted scientifically, to prove that barley is good for you. We've been using that health claim to try to create both market pull and market push so we're growing more hulless barley. Hulless barley is the one that has the higher beta-glucans.
4:10 p.m.
President, Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, General Manager , Alberta Barley Commission
That's the one without the cover on the seed—
4:10 p.m.
Voices
Oh, oh!
4:10 p.m.
President, Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, General Manager , Alberta Barley Commission
Ms. Lisa Skierka —and when you go to the grocery store you would normally see it as pearled barley, usually, little bags of barley.
Anyway, you have this health claim. It's an excellent story. Unfortunately, farmers don't grow very much of it because in the past it hasn't sold very well. Our idea is to build it up to be almost like malt barley, where they're paid a premium—
4:10 p.m.
President, Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, General Manager , Alberta Barley Commission
Yes, at the same time. So we try to create a little demand.... We missed you, but you weren't our target audience—
4:10 p.m.
Voices
Oh, oh!
4:10 p.m.
President, Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, General Manager , Alberta Barley Commission
We try to create that demand so that we get contracts for a higher price for farmers while building markets.
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
Joe Preston Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
What about in Europe? Is this a marketing thing? Are they already eating that barley in Europe? Is there a market for what you could already sell there or is this also a place where you'll have to move the market?
4:15 p.m.
President, Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, General Manager , Alberta Barley Commission
Europe isn't known for its barley food consumption by humans, but we would certainly like it to be.
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Joe Preston Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
All right. That's great.
The chair isn't looking at me, so I'll just carry on.
4:15 p.m.
President, Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, General Manager , Alberta Barley Commission
I was just thinking about it, and maybe we should be getting barley for risotto. That would be really nice in Europe, I think.
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Joe Preston Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
Yes.
How much barley is grown in Europe? You said that we export a little bit into France, so there obviously is some use, because we know we make beer in Europe, or some form thereof.
4:15 p.m.
Chairman, Barley Council of Canada Working Group
I can't answer that question. I don't know the answer. I can relate some stories. I have neighbours from that part of the world. One has farmed in Canada for 40 years now and said to me, “Brian, you would not believe the kind of barley they use to make beer over there.” He said that we wouldn't even feed it to our pigs here. He said it's awful.
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Joe Preston Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
Then I come back to the 500 million new customers. In our business, we say that if one of our competitors is still doing a dollar in sales, we have room for growth. If you have a barley farmer in Europe not growing the same quality that you can grow, I think you have an opportunity to grow or to sell it to that market also.
4:15 p.m.
President, Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, General Manager , Alberta Barley Commission
And certainly France is one of those countries in Europe. They grow their own barley. One of the reasons they buy barley in France is to mix it, because of the difference in protein content. There is definitely room for some marketing towards that.
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
4:15 p.m.
President, Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, General Manager , Alberta Barley Commission
I was speaking of feed specifically. The malt barley is sold differently through contracts. For example, some of the bigger beer companies, such as Heineken, would have specific contracts that they would fill. It operates significantly differently.
