OPINION Wendy Holm David, Goliath & the cheese wars Two small cheese processors decided it was of value to stand up for cheese standards
WHEN THE MUCH-SMALLER DAVID took on the gi- ant Goliath, he eschewed the King’s armour and went into battle protected only by a slingshot and fi v e s m o o t h s t o n e s . He felled Goliath with a single shot because he thought he could and because he believed he had God on his side. When tiny St. Albert Cheese Co-op stood up to Saputo, Parmalat and Kraft in last year’s Judicial Review of Canada’s cheese regulations, they did so armed not with legions of high priced lawyers but with the simple truth: Canadian cheese should be made with Canadian milk. And they had Canadian eration farmers and proud of it. farmers on their side. In their plant in tiny St. Albert, 45 minutes south Together with tiny International Cheese of Toronto, east of Ottawa, 60 employees turn 25 million litres St. Albert’s fi led for intervener status to argue the of milk a year into award-winning cheddars and oth- case for Canada’s dairy farmers because, in the er fi ne cheeses. And loyal consumers beat a path to words of co-op general manager Rejean Ouimet, their door. “Saputo, Kraft and Parmalat don’t want any regula- International Cheese of Toronto, the only other tions. That’s like a highway with no speed limits. intervener in the Judicial Review, is a 40-year-old We’d like to see zero tolerance.” family-owned and operated company that prides it- “We’re a co-op. Our board asked itself, ‘Can we self in producing “over 32 different cheese prod- put forward our members point of view? Can we ucts using the freshest ingredients available in the stand up as a cooperative owned by 50 milk produc- market.” ers and defend ourselves?’” And they did. Its website proclaims, “Where making cheese is an Started in 1894 by a handful of dairy farmers art”. Their Ricotta is so good it was declared ‘world’s who’d settled the fertile farmland surrounding our best’ at the World Cheese Championships in 2006. nation’s capital, their members are today 5th gen- Why did International intervene? Third generation
[ The writer is an award-winning Canadian agrologist and farm columnist based in Vancouver ]
46 ONTARIO DAIRY FARMER JUNE 2010 THE ONLY LIVESTOCK WATERER ON THE … MARKET WITH A 10 YEAR WARRANTY • Built for rugged ed feefeedlot, dlot, paspasture ture and dairy conditions WaterMaster cheese-maker Mike Salvadore puts it • Meets Grade A Dairy recommendations quite simply. • Optional Immersion Heater & Self Regulating Heat Cable “We don’t believe in using addi- • One piece tives. It’s killing the market. We want polyurethane with foam to produce good quality cheese.” insulation keeps water ice-free Replacing Canadian milk with cheap lonlongerger in wintewinterr QUALITY, DEPENDABILITY, 24/7 PEACE OF MIND imported additives (modifi ed milk CONTACT YOUR LOCAL DEALER OR CALL: ingredients such as milk protein con- JAD- ph: 519-632-7471 fax: 519-632-7815 centrates) allows Saputo, Kraft and VENT R.R. 1, AYR, ON N0B 1E0 Parmalat to undercut the prices of Distributors Limited www.jadvent.ca quality cheese-makers like Rejean [ 00¬þ¢oA¬þ¢oA and Mike, making cheese made with øß뱦 -Ûq¦Ĉqß J !«qÛA ß [ A§¬AA§¬A ! !oAoA real Canadian milk less competitive. [ ÔÙ ÔÙ \ł?ł-ł “We just want a level playing fi eld,” ø /A 2ÛA«ßqÛ he says. ""$: $/" In their testimony before the $: $ :Ô9: ;-" " -/$2"0/" " - Judicial Review, these two brave lit- /$2"0 40{ tle Davids spoke up for the rights of Canadian dairy farmers, Canadian <<$4 $: 2 2$ cows and Canadian consumers. 00¼«â¼«â -Ô\oØÞ-Ô\oØÞ ««¦««¦ - -Ô\oØÔ\oØ <$4/0 w 40{ Against a trio of Goliaths, Saputo o}} 0¼AÔ¦ ؼAÔ¦PØ¡¼ýÂ\«¡ the largest by far. !AÔ :oþ ¡üoþPØ¡¼ýÂ\«¡ ´tĄĄëÞtÞåë From humble beginnings as a üüüÂØ¡¼ýÂ\«¡ Montreal mozzarella-maker in 1954, Saputo Inc. began a period of expan- 00«AÔ«AÔ o\âÔ\âþo\âÔ\âþ ¦ûoØâ¡o¦â¦ûoØâ¡o¦â $¼¼«Ôâí¦âþ$¼¼«Ôâí¦âþ sion in the 1990s that saw 20 major acquisitions in as many years. During this time, padlocks were placed on the doors of many Canadian dairies - including Harrowsmith, Cookstown and Oakville, Ontario, Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Souris, Manitoba and milk plants in Calgary and Armstrong, B.C. - as Saputo bought up and then shut down local capacity. And local 4" / 2 $- ! /$2 -/$/!c <$4 " "$: - tĄÂê "20 -/ : jobs. $/ 2 2/ 2< -/$ 4 < <$4 2/$4$42 2 ";2 êĄ </0 Today, with 9,600 employees and 40" $ < -/$9" / 2/ / :2 2 -/$/!" 46 plants - 26 in Canada, 16 in the 0"<$ -" c <$4 " /" /2 $ /24/" 0 $--$/24"20 / 0$ 9  US, 2 in Argentina and 2 in Europe - Saputo Inc. is the 11th largest dairy $4/$4/ / /00 processor in the world, the largest in A¦ÑØ o¦oÔA «¦âÔA\⦠Canada, the third largest in Argentina 2ob ³§äÝÝêêêê and among the top three cheese Aýb ³§äÝÝêêê /Â/ ³ o¼Øâ«üc $" "Ą ³ Ą !Ab A¦Ø\«¦âÔA\â¦PØ\ئâoÔ¦oâÂ\«¡ producers in the United States. A ¡Ab ¦}«Pâo}ÔâĂÔ«í¼Â\A mighty Goliath indeed. üüüÂâo}ÔâĂÔ«í¼Â\A -oA ífoÔØ âf At the end of October, Saputo will 2ob ³§tt³§ê -«¦ob ³§äÝÝêêä Aýb ³§tt³ää close its Brampton plant, removing Aýb ³§äÝÝêä³ê ¡Ab ØAoØP¼oARífoÔØÂ\A 190 jobs from the local economy. Arguing that the closure makes âÔA¦Ø}«Ô¡ þ«íÔ A¦f ¦â« A ¦AâíÔA ¼«üoÔ Ø«íÔ\o
JUNE 2010 ONTARIO DAIRY FARMER 47 SAY CHEESE
Saputo History of Acquisitions 1954 Giuseppe & Maria Saputo begin making 2001 Acquires Dairyworld Foods from Agrifoods mozzarella cheese in Montreal. Intl Co-Op for $400 million 1957 Saputo opens it’s fi rst company-owned (becomes #1 in Canada) cheese factory in Montreal 2002 Acquires US cheese division of 1981 Acquires cheese plant in Ontario. ConAgra Foods Inc 1984 Acquires processing plant for whey protein, 2003 Acquires Molfi no Hermanos, #3 dairy in Argenti- lactose, and other food ingredients na, US $51 million (enters global cheese market) 1988 Acquires cheesemaker in Vermont, Jefferson Acquires Treasure Cave/Nauvoo brands from Cheese in Maryland (enters US market) ConAgra (leading share of NA blue cheese market). 1996 Acquires Fromages Caron in Quebec. 2005 Acquires Fromage Cote & Distn-Cheddar from 19 97 Acquires Crémerie des Trois Rivières Fromage Cote SA & Distn (enters liquid milk and ice cream market) Acquires US Schneider Cheese Inc Acquires U.S.-based Stella Foods C$563 million (triples in size). 2006 Acquires Spezialitaten-Kaserei De Lucia GmbH, Germany 19 98 Acquires Wisconsin cheese operations from Avonmore Waterford US $36 million; Acquires Boulangerie Rondeau Inc Acquires Froma-Dar Inc 2007 Acquires Dansco Dairy Products Ltd (Britain) Acquires Riverside Cheese & Butter Inc Acquires Cheese & Protein Intl LLC from Land O'Lakes Inc Acquires Bari Cheese Ltd 2008 Acquires Alto Dairy Cooperative (US) 1999 Acquires Culinar for $282millionC, leading maker of snack cakes in Canada. Acquires Biscuits Rondeau Inc 2000 Acquires European cheese specialist Acquires Neilson Dairy from George Weston Ltd Cayer-JCB for $20 million. 2009 Acquires F&A Dairy of California Inc
economic sense for the company, million, up a whopping 80 per cent Albert and International Cheese, the Saputo promised 120 of those em- over last year. Second quarter earn- Federal Court of Canada, in its fall ployees jobs elsewhere. ings were $94.5 million, up 37 per 2009 ruling, upheld Canada’s new Saputo’s third quarter earnings to cent over year earlier numbers. cheese regulations specifying the December 31, 2009 were $104.3 Supported by the testimony of St. amount of fl uid milk to be used in
~Í Á Üj @Óûn×ᥠ.Ö ÁjÄ Áj án/ ÖÁ? Á ì¥ !?Í
ª¥áÓªne Ó ªü üá @»× eû@¥[ne ì᪠@᪥ 1n[¥ªª þ !nü ,ªünÓ|ª ,ì× n× ¥ /ª@Ó n¥nÓ@ᥠ/þ×án × .e n 8n¥á@᪥ /þ×án .ª¥ ìÓá@¥ /þ×án ×× @¥× Ó¥án¥ /ª@Ó !
#3. # , 1 ,.#. Ó¥án¥ /Á/Á 1» 1Óªì × Ó¥án¥ /á@× Ó¥án¥ ìÓá@¥ /þ×án × ×× ,ªünÓ|ª ,ì× @¥× Ó¥án¥ .ìQQnÓ ªªÓ¥ Ó¥án¥ ᥠ.e n /þ×án × Ó¥án¥ Ó×á @×× ªü Óì× Ó¥án¥ .ª ªªÓ×
åŷĚťįÍ 48 ONTARIO DAIRY FARMER JUNE 2010 WWW.NUHN.CA the manufacture of Canadian cheese Check out our (Canadian Cheddar: 100 percent, website for soft cheeses: 95 percent, cheddar, information Colby, and brick cheeses: 83 per- and videos of our products cent and mozzarella: 60 percent.) But Saputo and Kraft appealed the fi nding. The Federal Court of Appeal INDUSTRIES LTD. is now reviewing the testimony, in- Manure Management Specialists cluding that of St Albert’s Cheese PO Box 160 Sebringville, Ontario, Canada N0K 1X0 Co-op and International Cheese of 519-393-6284 • [email protected] Toronto. A fi nal decision is expect- ed in July. When the Appeal is fi nally dis- missed, dairy farmers and cheese lovers across Canada should stand With Probios TC up and give a bow in the direction of I always eat more. the two brave little Canadian Davids stood up to Goliaths Saputo, Parmalat and Kraft with simple truth as a weapon. ả With Probios TC my production With Probios TC, will be way up. I hardly notice the heat and humidity.
Ask about Probios® TC and get the conversation started.
Probios® TC Farm Pak is a natural microbial product specifically designed to optimize the rumen environ- ment improving intake, digestibility and performance. • Improve dry matter intake • Improve milk components • Use to fight heat stress
Call 1-888-968-0556 today to discuss how Probios TC can add value to your operation.
www.chr-hansen.com/animal-health
JUNE 2010 ONTARIO DAIRY FARMER 49