Canadian Beef Centre of Excellence, Alberta, Canada

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Canadian Beef Centre of Excellence was opened in March 2015 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Credit: Canada Beef. Hallway leading to the Centre of Excellence. Credit: Canada Beef. Beef fabrication room for product cutting and beef yield testing. Credit: Canada Beef. The boardroom has the capacity to accommodate 30 people. Credit: Canada Beef. The boardroom opens up into a demonstration theatre and test kitchen. Credit: Canada Beef. The kitchen is equipped with full consumer-oriented facilities including outdoor barbeque. Credit: Canada Beef. The industrial kitchen has access to the most up-to-date equipment. Credit: Canada Beef. Canada Beef, an independent organisation representing the Canadian cattle and beef industry, officially inaugurated the Canadian Beef Centre of Excellence in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in March 2015. The state-of-the-art facility is a new food development and education venue offering space and resources to test and promote new products, provide training and education about Canadian beef and serves as a window for Canada’s top-quality beef. It provides a central point for domestic and international marketing opportunities, and incoming trade missions and acts as a keystone in the Canadian beef industry. The Government of Canada supported the centre’s establishment by providing the required funds. The project not just promotes Canadian beef locally and internationally, but also generates jobs and economic growth. Construction of the centre began in the summer of 2014 after receiving funds from a number of supporting organisations including Canada Beef. The multi-functional facility is designed to accommodate groups of up to 30 people who will gain the opportunity of experiencing Canadian Beef advantage first-hand and work with Canada Beef’s team of professionals. It houses a full commercial kitchen, meat case, classrooms and dining facilities, and has broadcast capabilities. The excellence centre acts as a focal point for the beef industry as it drives innovation, builds knowledge and awareness, promotes important relationships and creates value for Canadian beef and veal producers. The Canadian Beef Centre of Excellence features facilities including a presentation boardroom, beef fabrication room, dry storage, prep kitchen, freezer, fridge, dish room, consumer kitchen, commercial kitchen and demonstration theatre. The presentation boardroom is a meeting and interaction space with a capacity to accommodate 30 people. It is equipped with global broadcast capabilities, which allow connecting with off-site clients worldwide, and can also be used as a formal dining venue. The boardroom opens up into a demonstration theatre and test kitchen, which enables product demonstrations, consumer culinary demos and foodservice demonstrations. It has a seating capacity of 30 and is equipped with a full consumer-oriented kitchen area including an outdoor barbeque. It can be used for developing consumer recipes, filming cooking videos, food photography and live cooking demos, which can be broadcasted to audiences. Smithfield Beef Group Inc and ContiGroup Companies Inc announced in mid-2006 an agreement to form a 50/50 joint venture to build a new, state-of-the-art beef processing plant in Texas County, Oklahoma, US. The commercial kitchen in the centre is equipped with the most up-to-date equipment including combi-ovens, induction cooking and sous vide options. The beef fabrication room is designed with a functional Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan. It allows product cutting and specification standards to be developed by clients. It also allows beef yield testing, product quality assessment and specific muscle identification and product development. It is equipped with the latest manufacturing and packaging technologies. The retail meat case allows clients to visualise how products may look like in their stores. Other services and programmes offered by the Beef Centre of Excellence include beef product training, beef product research and development, communication and outreach, and business development. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and Western Economic Diversification Canada provided $3.8m for the project through the Western Diversification Program in July 2014. The beef industry is the biggest sector of the Canadian food manufacturing industry. Canada is the world’s eighth-biggest beef exporting country with annual shipments of $22.9bn in 2013. Canada Beef is responsible for the domestic and international beef and veal market development in Canada. It was created when the Beef Information Centre (BIC) and Canada Beef Export Federation (CBEF) joined the Canadian Beef Cattle Research, Market Development and Promotion Agency. It has offices in Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Mexico and China.

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