In 2001, Pieter Spinder and Kelly Long were running their bison operation near Peace River. Five hours south, Dean Andres was ranching at Lake Isle, west of Edmonton.
It wasn’t pretty. After an initial boom and then a big bust, the bison industry was in serious trouble.
Today, that seems like ancient history, and Spinder and Long, a husband-wife team, and Andres, a bison producer now based in Saskatchewan, are the driving force behind Carmen Creek Gourmet Meats of Calgary.
Sitting in the conference room of Carmen Creek’s second floor office in Calgary’s southwest, Spinder and Long chat easily about the company’s past, present and future. The couple’s golden retriever comes in to say hello and then wanders down the hallway to another room.
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This modern office is a long way from the farm but the red and earthy paint tones and country accents tell of a company closely related to the land, producers and meat industry.
Long moves aside some promotional material that she was assembling for clients in the United States and dials Dean Andres’ phone number, connecting him to the conversation via teleconference.
“I started doing a business plan to sell our product from the farm gate,” recalls Long. “We soon realized that it could be a bigger and better opportunity than just selling off the farm.”
That opportunity was a broader marketing plan for bison meat across Canada, as opposed to just selling to the local community. Even though the original plans focused on selling to the Canadian market, today 75 per cent of Carmen Creek’s business is international.
When the first business plan was finalized, Spinder and Long sold their ranch in Peace River and relocated to Calgary, since they already had a house there. Next they brought in Andres, bundling their expertise and rounding out their skills set.
Spinder is the president of the company and deals with the financials and export details while Long focuses on marketing. Andres looks after operations and liaises with producers. He now
has a ranch in Saskatchewan and owns and operates one of the four bison finishing feedlots contracted to Carmen Creek.
Initially the partners targeted the Canadian market outside of Alberta. Despite high hopes for the first production run in 2002, it took two years for the meat products to sell. “We cut everything into usable products for retail, such as family-size roasts,” says Long, admitting that those products did not sell well.
“We quickly found out that you don’t move 100 head very fast that way,” says Andres.
The first business plan didn’t include any value-added products, mostly because the partners had little knowledge about the meat industry. “That’s why we made so many mistakes in the beginning,” says Long. Almost immediately, the company developed a frozen burger product for independent grocers, which also failed due to poor packaging.
From there, the team adjusted their marketing plan to include primal meat cuts for food service and more value-added products for retail. They also knew they needed to shift their focus, since the local and domestic market needs were already being filled by other outlets. “Our goal was not to supply markets already being served,” says Long. “Those markets are deep, but we wanted wide.”
In 2003, things were looking up when Whole Foods, the United States’ largest natural food retail chain, contacted Carmen Creek about its bison products. Today, Whole Foods is the company’s largest client in the U. S.
The first shipment was on its way to Whole Foods when the border closed in response to BSE.
“Whole Foods was our first major customer and export,” says Spinder. “We had been gearing up for a long time to supply them. We finally had a shipment ready on the truck, and that same day, the border closed. It really slowed us down.” It took almost a year for the border to open again.
All three admit that the first five years were tough. It was nose to the grindstone, plow through it or perish. The border closure wasn’t their only hurdle. The company faced a rising Canadian dollar too, plus rising production costs, and then one of its contracted packing plants burned down.
“Pieter and I had invested quite heavily from our personal savings, and we started to wonder if we were going to make it,” says Long. “There’s nothing like that to keep a fire under your feet.”
The company’s grit and perseverance haven’t gone unrecognized. In 2008, Carmen Creek was named small business of the year by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
While the partners had many concerns throughout the start-up years, one of their greatest challenges was ensuring top prices for the primary producers.
“Can we pay primary producers enough for their product so we can carry on and so that the industry is sustainable?” says Spinder. “That’s always been a challenge but we’re definitely heading in the right direction.”
Andres says the strongest prices come from packers in the U. S. Carmen Creek is able to offer prices similar to its U. S. competitors because of its export markets.
“Plants in Alberta with a real domestic focus are not able to pay producers what producers need. They are anywhere from 25 to 40 cents off the market,” Andres says.
“You really need the export markets,”
Andres says. “There are a lot of cuts that if you have to sell in Canada, you don’t get a very good price for them. To maximize the carcass value, you pretty much have to export.”
In Canada, Carmen Creek works with about 100 producers, almost in Alberta and Saskatchewan, where 95 per cent of Canada’s bison are raised. Overall, Canada has approximately 250,000 bison on 2,000 farms, up about a third since 2001.
Carmen Creek contracts with four finishing lots for calves and yearlings, as well as with several packing plants. The feedlots can usually tell Carmen Creek up front how many head they are expecting. Otherwise, most producers call when the animals are ready for processing.
“Bison are different than cattle,” says Andres. “You don’t always know when they are finished. It can be anywhere from 18 to 30 months.”
Andres says it’s a good time for producers to get into the bison business, as there will be solid markets for many years to come. For instance, fresh bison sales at Whole Foods in the U. S. grew about 18 per cent year over year, even in 2008 during the economic slowdown.
Furthermore, the carcass price is almost double that of beef. Over the last two years, prices have been on a upward trend.
Carmen Creek bison are grain-finished and marketed as natural, hormone-and antibiotic-free meat, adhering to strict production practices. The company offers 50 to 60 products, including all the same cuts as beef, and then some value-added items, such as boxed frozen burgers.
All of the products are available within Canada, specifically at retail and food service outlets in Western Canada and Ontario. Retail stores include Safeway, Save-On, Sobeys and Whole Foods in Canada, while food service includes Montana’s and Moxie’s. Cuts are also sold to independent restaurants, such as Henotic in Lethbridge.
Canada and U.S. are home markets for bison, while Europe is a fairly new market that continues to expand, says Spinder.
Bison in Europe is sold primarly as a novelty, but it is starting to be esteemed for its health attributes, as it is in North America.
For the past four years, Carmen Creek has been shipping product weekly to 12 to 15 clients in Western Europe via air. It’s biggest client is a company called Metro. “There’s a tremendous amount of paperwork to ship product out to Europe and even more to clear it once it arrives there, as well as duties to pay,” says Spinder.
Spinder is originally from the Netherlands and does most of the communication with the company’s clients in Europe, as he speaks several languages.
“More and more consumers are wanting to try bison,” says Long. “It is becoming more mainstream, and as Dean says, demand is getting higher than supply.”
As the biggest bison company in the country doing international export, as well as the most recognized brand in the Canadian market, Carmen Creek, like any entrepreneurial enterprise, is looking at the road ahead. It plans to further expand into the European markets while continuing to supply clients in Canada and the U.S.
“The result has been more than we were expecting,” says Long. “We knew the business would be successful where it was based on our initial plans. Since then, we’ve achieved our business and financial objectives, just not in the way we thought we would.” CG
Andres says. “There are a lot of cuts that if you have to sell in Canada, you don’t get a very good price for them. To maximize the carcass value, you pretty much have to export.”
In Canada, Carmen Creek works with about 100 producers, almost in Alberta and Saskatchewan, where 95 per cent of Canada’s bison are raised. Overall, Canada has approximately 250,000 bison on 2,000 farms, up about a third since 2001.
Carmen Creek contracts with four finishing lots for calves and yearlings, as well as with several packing plants. The feedlots can usually tell Carmen Creek up front how many head they are expecting. Otherwise, most producers call when the animals are ready for processing.
“Bison are different than cattle,” says Andres. “You don’t always know when they are finished. It can be anywhere from 18 to 30 months.”
Andres says it’s a good time for producers to get into the bison business, as there will be solid markets for many years to come. For instance, fresh bison sales at Whole Foods in the U. S. grew about 18 per cent year over year, even in 2008 during the economic slowdown.
Furthermore, the carcass price is almost double that of beef. Over the last two years, prices have been on a upward trend.
Carmen Creek bison are grain-finished and marketed as natural, hormone-and antibiotic-free meat, adhering to strict production practices. The company offers 50 to 60 products, including all the same cuts as beef, and then some value-added items, such as boxed frozen burgers.
All of the products are available within Canada, specifically at retail and food service outlets in Western Canada and Ontario. Retail stores include Safeway, Save-On, Sobeys and Whole Foods in Canada, while food service includes Montana’s and Moxie’s. Cuts are also sold to independent restaurants, such as Henotic in Lethbridge.
Canada and U.S. are home markets for bison, while Europe is a fairly new market that continues to expand, says Spinder.
Bison in Europe is sold primarly as a novelty, but it is starting to be esteemed for its health attributes, as it is in North America.
For the past four years, Carmen Creek has been shipping product weekly to 12 to 15 clients in Western Europe via air. It’s biggest client is a company called Metro. “There’s a tremendous amount of paperwork to ship product out to Europe and even more to clear it once it arrives there, as well as duties to pay,” says Spinder.
Spinder is originally from the Netherlands and does most of the communication with the company’s clients in Europe, as he speaks several languages.
“More and more consumers are wanting to try bison,” says Long. “It is becoming more mainstream, and as Dean says, demand is getting higher than supply.”
As the biggest bison company in the country doing international export, as well as the most recognized brand in the Canadian market, Carmen Creek, like any entrepreneurial enterprise, is looking at the road ahead. It plans to further expand into the European markets while continuing to supply clients in Canada and the U.S.
“The result has been more than we were expecting,” says Long. “We knew the business would be successful where it was based on our initial plans. Since then, we’ve achieved our business and financial objectives, just not in the way we thought we would.” CG
