On the Menu

By Mary Bailey
  Alberta Venture 2004 
 


 
 

Farmers, marketers and chefs discuss the challenges and opportunities in getting regional cuisine into Alberta restaurants

The chefs
Wilson Wu, along with his sister Judy, own Wild Tangerine Cucina Domestica, a 40-seat restaurant that recently opened in Edmonton. They’re long-term restaurateurs, having run Polos Café near the University of Alberta for over a decade. They would like everything they serve to be organic and from Alberta but find price and availability an issue. “It’s a full-time job looking for produce,” says Wu.

Liana Robberecht is the executive chef of the Calgary Petroleum Club. She’s responsible for three kitchens, 40 staff and menus for three meals daily plus cocktail parties, banquets and special events. She has spent several years building relationships to supply the Petroleum Club kitchen with high-quality, Alberta-grown food. “We’re 70% Albertan,” says Robberecht.

The farmers
Ron Hamilton and his wife Sheila operate Sunworks Farm near Armena, a certified organic operation producing 30,000 chickens, 1,400 turkeys, 400 lambs, 300 pigs, 900 ducks, 100 wild turkeys and eggs from 1,000 hens. They concentrate on retail at the Old Strathcona Market in Edmonton and the new Currie Barracks Market in Calgary. With this, Sunworks has created a distribution stream for their products and several other small producers of goat yogurt, milk and, when in season, strawberries.

Diana Daunheimer and her husband Derek bought 12 acres three years ago near Didsbury, one hour north of Calgary. Last year they planted one acre of greens, peas, herbs, edible flowers, root vegetables and radishes – crops that do well in our short northern season – and sold them to a few high-end restaurants in Calgary and Banff. Their farm will be certified organic in 2005 and they hope to grow their production by one acre per year.

You could call these families the new generation of farmers – people who have come to farming to support a lifestyle based on personal satisfaction and beliefs. The Daunheimers focus on organic vegetables not just because of their beliefs, but because it’s a niche market – something they can actually grow.

“There’s lots of interest in our vegetables,” says Daunheimer. “But we’re limited by the fact we do everything ourselves. We have to learn to be more efficient,” she says. “You must sell a lot of lettuce to pay somebody $10.00 an hour to pick it.”

The marketers Arlie McFadden turned decades of food service experience into Arlie’s Marketing Consultants based in Calgary. McFadden markets Alberta bison, elk and caribou from Canadian Rocky Mountain Ranch, Winter’s Turkeys and Galloway Beef. Recently, she took Vancouver chefs on a harbour cruise and fed them tapas of bison and elk to demonstrate the quality of the meats. “It’s not in your face,” she says, “It’s in your mouth marketing.”

Lori Menshik operates Full Course Strategies in Edmonton. She’s responsible for the sale of Edseland Bison, Dirt Willie Game Birds, Sturgeon Valley Pork and several other Alberta products to restaurants across the province. She wants her chefs to have a personal connection with the farmers who raise the food – so she takes them on road trips to visit.

Q: As a chef, what motivates you to take the path towards regional cuisine?
A: “It’s healthier, better quality food,” says Robberecht. “But first you have to sell your boss (on the concept). They’re business people and they understand supporting other local business. Even something as small as mustard. All our mustard now comes from Brassica in Calgary.”

Developing a regional cuisine program doesn’t happen overnight, she adds. Robberecht says it took five years for the Petroleum Club to get to the 70% Alberta mark. “It’s not about this week or next month. It’s about building relationships, reliability and ethical pricing,” she says.

“We wanted Wild Tangerine to have fresh, wholesome, organic Alberta food,” says Wu.

“We cannot completely market our restaurant as organic because of the supply – it’s not always available,” says Wu. “The other thing is pricing. But we need the quality to support that. It must be better than the mainstream supplier. Clients can tell the difference in their tomatoes, less so in their sauce. (Nevertheless) I feel proud to support local and deal with local marketers.”

Robberecht agrees with Wu. “We use lots of local produce and price is a challenge. I’m not expecting a bargain price – but the quality needs to be there.”

“It’s important to establish good relationships, sometimes contracts. But at the same time we need tremendous flexibility from our suppliers. We can have 700 people at various functions within the club on any given day.”

“What often works best is to showcase a certain ingredient on a menu, not to expect to have it all the time.”

It’s a learning curve for all. “We’ve had to iron out a lot of kinks over the years with suppliers.”

Q: How do producers and marketers cope with the lack of consistency in supply?
A: Hamilton says it’s about co-operation. If one farmer doesn’t raise enough, perhaps several farmers working together can supply these larger food service clients. That’s what he does with the lamb, ducks and eggs. “We can only grow so much ourselves. We bring on other farm families to work together as a community to offer variety.”

Robberecht would love to see more of this. “It makes good business sense,” she says. “Band together – offer a good quality product at a good price. It’s easier for me to work with one person.”

Daunheimer offers the opinion that “in my experience, some farmers are very helpful, but some are almost paranoid about sharing info, which is unfortunate,” she says. “We need to trust each other, learn to work together, share ideas and farming practices. It’s not about stealing business.”
     
Marketers can help to find similar farms and work with them to educate. As well, they can offer the business. “If you raise X amount of animals, I’m buying them. It’s a guaranteed sale,” says Menshik.

Sometimes it’s about overabundance, not lack of supply. “It’s important to work with your chefs to help them take advantage of this by saying it’s asparagus time or strawberry time – by showing them what’s in the garden goes in the menu,” says McFadden.

Q: Are restaurants an important market for producers?
A: It’s about price. “We offer only a 5% discount from retail and just can’t compete with the big processors or food service giants,” says Hamilton from Sunworks Farm. “We do work with a few people like Sal Howell at River Café in Calgary. They purchase whole chickens and cut out supremes. We then make sausage from the excess meat for them. They’ve absorbed some of the costs and are better able to control the quality-in-house.” Hamilton finds it’s good marketing to work with restaurants. To have their name on a menu builds awareness of Sunworks Farm – off menu as well. “We’re making home meal replacements with Infuse Catering.” Sunworks has been able to sell everything it produces locally. Now, it’s looking at a federal project which would allow it to ramp up production and send product to B.C. and the northwest states. The larger volume could bring down costs. “Farming is still a volume game – even if it’s organic-in order to make a living,” he says.

Q: How does processing factor into the equation?
A: “I have to do a dance to ensure I have enough product,” says Menshik. “If a big function comes up and I run out, it’s difficult to get another processing date.” She has to work with four processors, getting slightly different cuts from each. “This can be a problem for restaurants. They demand consistency,” Menshik says.

Hamilton agrees: “The processors have their own agenda. If they say tomorrow you have a 15 cent increase per pound, I have nowhere to go.”

Q: So what’s the solution to the lack of quality processing?
A: “Education,” says Menshik. “Processors need to be taught about the portioning and cuts restaurants need. It’s different than retail.

“Meat cutters are getting older,” she continues, “and SAIT tells me that students think meat cutting is boring. It has to be about the art of meat cutting – the European traditions.”

Q: If you are a farmer and want to sell more of your product to a restaurant, what do you do?
A: “Hire a marketing agent!” say Menshik and McFadden.

“Come talk to me. It’s difficult to make time to go to a farm,” says Wu. “I’m too busy at the restaurant.”

They also like industry shows that put the producers in front of them as a group. It’s an efficient use of their time.

“I go to shows like Indulgence to meet producers,” says Wu. “Alberta Agriculture’s Alberta Food Showcase is a good platform,” says Robberecht. “And farm tours – amazing! Stays in your mind.”

McFadden offers Wild Game seminars, about which Robberecht says, “I’m now crazy about elk.”

Hamilton cautions that marketing is tough work. “If you don’t like marketing, see an agent. If you like it and can do a good job, you can do it yourself,” he says. “But keep in mind that it takes time. I spend 25% of my time marketing. Can you afford to take that much time off the farm?

“Each farm, each family is different,” says Menshik. “It depends on the product…and balance.”

All panelists feel the opportunity exists within the wreckage left behind by the BSE crisis.

Q: What’s the opportunity?
A: McFadden thinks there’s more awareness of local food now. “With disasters, more attention is brought back to home agriculture,” she says.

“Consumers want more info – who’s raising this and where. A certain percentage of customers want to go beyond the grocery store,” says Daunheimer.

Q: How do you build awareness of Alberta regional cuisine?
A: McFadden says, “With enthusiasm! The bottom line? It’s about getting more Alberta food onto the plate. I like to involve producers with the chefs and vice versa. Getting to know the chefs and having open communication is critical.”

Wu says, “Get children excited about organic and then we’ll see results. I want it to become a lifestyle, not a trend.” Hamilton agrees. “We’re hosting a Grade 2 class right after this conversation,” he says.

“People in Alberta want to see that the food they’re eating is healthy – chickens that see the sun,” says Hamilton “And locally it’s about cutting down transportation costs and pollution,” says Daunheimer.

Q: What’s the recipe for success?
A: According to our roundtable there are several ingredients to getting more Alberta food on the plate: more farmers co-operating to increase volumes, to offer the best price and to become more efficient. In return they’ll win steady food service customers and business stability.

The lack of processing space and quality needs to be addressed. To the end, we’ll see more vertical integration – producers owning processors and retail outlets. And the most crucial ingredient is building consumer awareness. Plans are in the works.

“The regional cuisine initiative of Alberta Agriculture is building a three to five year plan looking at education and communication as major factors,” says Wesley Johnson of Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development. “It’s a three-pronged approach – food service, retail and tourism.”

“We’ve only scratched the surface so far.”

An informed consumer cares what’s on the plate, at home or dining out. Education is key. As we consumers become more aware of what we’re eating and where it’s from, suppliers will respond. When people realize the economic health of their community can depend on these food choices, they’ll pay more attention.