Agriculture Committee on Nov. 26th, 2013

[Serge Beaulieu]

We have been investing in promotion in Europe for several years. Last year, exports increased from 5% to 6%. It would be an attainable objective to invest more in promotion, say, 10% per year for the next five years.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Yes.

[Martin Plante]

As a packer, I can confirm right away that we will not take one dime in profit. That will all go in the market because, first of all, we don't do those kinds of margins and we need to increase the volume. This is what the producers ask for, and no margins on our side, I can confirm that.

The other thing is, if we can join that with the control appellation or the control name of “maple” and we get European people to taste real maple syrup, I do agree that 50% over five years is a fair number, because that will be quality and price.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Do I have 10 seconds?

[The Chair, Conservative, Bev Shipley]

Yes.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

I only wanted to say how disappointed we were, though, that you didn't bring samples for everybody to test today.

[Some voices]

Oh, oh!

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

We have to arrange that through the Chair somehow. With all these good guests coming along, we need samples.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bev Shipley]

I don't think the Accountability Act allows that.

[Martin Plante]

You know, I wanted to be able to go back home instead of going to jail. But if you have one address of one person, I can send you cranberries, honey, and maple. So just ask one person to do that, and I'll do it.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bev Shipley]

Thank you, Mr. Zimmer, for those good questions.

I'll now go to Madam Brosseau for five minutes, please.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Thank you very much. My thanks to the witnesses for being here. I have learned a lot today.

You have a number of recommendations for the committee, such as for Canada to sign the agreement with the United States and to try to preserve the brand, the appellation.

I would like to go back to the organic maple syrup. Might it be more possible to export organic maple syrup to the European Union? I would not say that they are opposed to genetically modified foods over there, but there might be a demand for organic maple syrup.

[Martin Plante]

We already go to a number of trade fairs that specialize in products of this kind. One of the biggest international trade fairs is BioFach, in Germany. It already focuses a lot on the organic food market. We have been putting a lot of effort into promoting organic syrup. The growth in organic maple syrup and in conventional maple syrup go hand in hand. We are already working hard along those lines.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Is maple syrup exported in bulk at the moment, or are there other value-added products like the ones we saw in the PowerPoint presentation?

[Martin Plante]

We do not want to talk about our competitors' commercial strategy. We produce only bottled products. The problem with sending the bulk product over there is the way in which it is processed in European plants in terms of the appellation, the brand. I cannot talk about what others do, but the idea behind the brand is to be sure about what they do in Europe. The CFIA has no control at all over the brand in European plants. We do not export in bulk, but it is a business decision.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Do you want to add anything, Mr. Beaulieu?

[Serge Beaulieu]

Yes. In Quebec, syrup can be traced all the way to the farm. Whether the syrup is organic or conventional, European consumers want the product to be traceable to the farm. Each barrel of syrup that goes to market is graded. We have a higher standard in Canada than they do in the United States. Of course, if the syrup is also packaged and bottled in Canada, it is easier to trace. We know that our product is competing with other sugar products. So we must set ourselves apart using things like that so that our product stands out in world markets.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

I have a few comments. The agreement has its pros and cons. Some people will win and some people will lose a little. Your federation feels that supply management is crucial. It is in agreement with the Union des producteurs agricoles on that point. You have asked the Government of Canada to stand firm in the final negotiations of the economic and trade agreement between Canada and Europe. Can you comment on what will happen with the fine cheeses in Quebec and the importing of European cheeses to Canada?

[Serge Beaulieu]

I am also a dairy farmer.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Okay.

[Serge Beaulieu]

Dairy farmers in Canada invest a great deal in promoting those products so that they become known. In recent years, we have invested a lot of money in fine cheeses, given how popular they are with our consumers. As you said, there are winners and losers. In terms of supply management, we will be on the losing side if the standards are not the same. The standards in Canada are not the same as in Europe for making the same fine cheeses. When the agreement is signed, it is important to make sure that those standards are the same everywhere.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

We have to understand—

[The Chair, Conservative, Bev Shipley]

Sorry, Madame Brosseau.

Thank you.

I'll now move to Mr. Harris, for five minutes, please.

[Dick Harris, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I have to admit that I'm a tried-and-true maple syrup addict. I love it. I've been here for 20 years and anything I've done in Parliament does not hold a candle to the fact that I make the world's finest French toast. You put some butter on that and drizzle some really good maple syrup, a couple of thick slices of bacon, and there is nothing finer that I could create. I did some last weekend, and I had some really good maple syrup that my wife found somewhere. It was delicious.

It's good to hear the passion that you have for the quality of your product and keeping the quality control of the product. I think we have to make every effort that we, as parliamentarians, can make to help secure that country name of “maple” for your products—in the same way as the shiraz people secured it. We can't use the name shiraz or champagne, as Mr. Zimmer mentioned. We have to do that. It could be one of the finest marketing tools we could imagine.

I want to ask you, what would the average-sized or medium-sized maple syrup farm produce? How many litres would it produce in a year?

[Serge Beaulieu]

We are talking about producing an average of a litre of maple syrup per tap.