Unshackled by the chains of supply management that protected Canada’s dairy and poultry industries from foreign competition but largely blocked their access to external markets, Canadian pork producers and processors bet heavily onPork exports soared – especially to the United States, China and Japan – reaching almost $5-billion in 2021. Canada became the third-largest exporter of raw and frozen pork products, with the volume of exports rising fourfold since 1990.
“Over the past two years, it is well documented that Olymel has experienced significant losses in the processing of fresh pork as a result of limited market access globally,” CEO Yanick Gervais said. “Now coupled with stubbornly high feed costs resulting in unprecedented losses in the hog sector, we have little choice but to retract and position ourselves for success in the future when conditions improve.
Canadian Pork Council chairman René Roy, whose family runs a pork and dairy farm in Quebec’s Beauce region, is not about to throw in the towel.