Crystal and Chad Ross pose with a number of Japanese dignitaries after their presentation on the Canadian Beef industry. (Photo submitted/Chad Ross)

By Nick Nielsen

Canadian Beef Roadshow

Members of Saskatchewan Cattleman’s Association return from tour in Japan and South Korea

Nov 22, 2024 | 2:58 PM

With Japan and South Korea being two of the four largest importers of Canadian beef products, they are some of the most important relationships to maintain in world trade.

A group comprised of representatives from Canada Beef, packers of Canadian beef, and Saskatchewan based cattle farmers Chad and Cyrstal Ross recently finished a two week tour through Japan and South Korea to promote the Canadian product and the methods used to produce Canadian beef.

Along with being a cattle producer from the Estevan area, Chad Ross is also the Vice President of the Saskatchewan Cattleman’s Association. He said that the ‘Canadian Beef Roadshow’ was successful across their four seminars through the two countries.

“There was receptions afterwards too where we got to meet everybody and show our pictures and tell our story. In between those meetings, we had a steady schedule of meetings with the importers, distributors, and retailers all across Japan and in Seoul, South Korea. So it was a very action-packed, intense trip with a lot of talk and a lot of meetings and it was very good.”

During their presentations, Ross got to showcase his family’s ranch to the different representatives from the Asian markets. Seeing small family farms thriving in the Canadian prairies and giving cattle a chance to grow and thrive in open space fields was something that impressed the Asian buyers.

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“They love the wide open spaces and that’s what Crystal and I showed, a lot of pictures of our ranch and the wide open spaces and how our management styles are environmentally sustainable, and they really appreciate that about our business, and then also that we are verified producers. Which is a third party audited program that audits the safety and the cattle handling and how we do business with our cattle to make sure it’s done properly and they really appreciate that about how we conduct our business as producers.”

While the Wagyu beef that comes out of Japan is world famous and even has it’s own presence in North America, Ross said that the Japanese tend to buy more Canadian beef than you might think. Because of the cheaper cost and consistent quality, Canadian beef is becoming more and more popular.

“Yes, the Wagyu beef is very popular over there although it is still more expensive over there than the Canadian beef, just because of the time it takes to develop it. But the Canadian beef is something that they’re getting a taste for and they appreciate the quality. They appreciate the safety of it and how safe our product is and they appreciate the consistency of Canadian beef.”

While there hasn’t been an outbreak of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, more commonly known as mad cow disease, in Canada since the early 2000s, that is still a concern that was brought up during the tour. Ross said that served as a great opportunity to showcase Canada’s beef tracing system.

“There’s still a bit of a hangover over the BSE, which is 20 years ago now, especially in Korea. They asked us questions about BSE and animal health and if are we ready for these outbreaks in Canada and if we have one, and so I think we are the most ready anywhere in the world because of our traceability system. Every animal in Canada gets a radio frequency ID tag and we’re able to trace those cattle and isolate those cattle in a disease outbreak. So our story is very solid when we talk about that overseas.”

During their trip, a South Korean distributor showcased a uniquely Canadian product that is gaining traction in South Korea. The distributor is taking Canadian beef and marinating it in Canadian maple syrup, and the product currently has a five star rating on the distributor’s website.

“They’ve got an app and a website in which they sell their beef where it is delivered right to their front doors at a specified time, and there’s no crime in Korea so they don’t worry about somebody taking it. That’s put in an eco friendly cooler and the customer gets the product delivered right to the front door. This product in particular was doing quite well. The Koreans have a taste for a little bit of sweetness in their beef, and so they really like that.”

As Ross returns to his cattle in the Estevan area, he wanted to thank the producers that pay into the Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off program. When Canadian producers send their cattle to market through provincial organizations, cattle producers pay a mandatory $2.50 levy to the Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off, and those levies go towards supporting a number of different initiatives including outreach programs such as this.

“I need to show appreciation to our ranchers and our check off paying producers out there because this marketing was done through Canada Beef with check off dollars leveraged, also with SCAP (Saskatchewan Canadian Agricultural Partnership) government dollars. These trade missions can’t be done without the support of producers and without the check off paying producers, and it goes a long way to selling the product that they’re producing and many don’t realize what’s being done behind the scenes.”