Depending on where you live in Canada, between 1995 and 2010 you probably noticed the emergence of three trends related to food and drink consumption: increased interest in, and production of, small–farm produced meats and vegetables; the emergence of microbreweries; and the growth in number of small-scale cheeseries.
Though each of these sectors is dynamic, and have not yet grown to their full extent, enough time has passed since their emergence to warrant a few observations.
First, for our younger readers, a bit of background. As far as beer, food and cheese was concerned, the 1970s, 80s and even 90s were truly the Dark Ages. Bad enough that beer was dogwater dull—worse still was that different brands were dull in the same way. Interesting options were confined to a small shelf of German/Czech products.
Cheese was the same. Variations on bland. In fact, remarkably, extraordinarily bland. What I consumed when I ate cheese for the first two decades of life was mostly water, a fair bit of orange colouring, and a little bit of something cheese-like. I still resent the dairy-processing industry for robbing me of Interesting Cheese Experiences during my youth.
And if you lived in the countryside during the 1980s, you may have had access to some local, free-range type beef, pork and chicken. But there was none of the infrastructure that has emerged recently, where farms (like ours, and those of many SFC readers) are wholesaling or direct marketing meaningful quantities of food to butchers, small chain stores and restaurants.
So, young people: be thankful to be alive in what a friend calls the Great Pleasure Renaissance—abundant choices in beer, cheese and meats and veggies!
But back to my sector observations. Of the three, microbreweries are the most successful. The number of breweries in Canada has risen from 10 in 1985 to over 640 in 2015. I know of at least two Chinese-made, DIY microbreweries sitting in Sea Cans nearby, just waiting for the owners to get them set up. While many operate in the $4-$10 million/year gross revenue range, some are doing upwards of $60 million/year and are selling internationally. In the U.S., artisanal breweries are credited with revitalizing small towns by making them destinations for Beer Tourism.
There are fewer small-scale cheese makers but their growth and expansion have also been remarkable, with producers selling to chains like Costco.
Of course, small farms outnumber microbreweries and cheeseries, and not all small farms want to sell into the local food market. But those that do have largely failed to achieve similar growth.
Why? A few possible explanations come to mind. While microbreweries and cheeseries can’t compete with large outfits on the scale of production, they are still highly mechanized and automated. Scaling up means capital, not so much labour. Small farm producers, needing or wanting to satisfy the demand for animal friendly/organic production, are often headed in the other direction—less efficient production. More production demands more labour, with fewer benefits to scaling up.
Beer and cheese fit into existing marketing channels more readily than local meat and vegetables. Bottles and cans and wrapped packages are easier to ship, track, warehouse and retail than totes of spinach. If I was a retailer looking to keep abreast of local food, it would be easier to feature a few varieties of cheese from a small producer than the seasonally on-and-off (usually) production of a small farm.
Beer and cheese are fun; meat and vegetables not so much. Who doesn’t look forward to trying a new IPA or brie? Sure, they cost more than the conventional beer and cheese, but consumption (depending on your level of addiction) is limited to a bit of Friday shopping excess. Or, if you are like me, you buy both—a couple of bottles of interesting craft beer, then a conventional beer to drink when watching the Oilers take on the Flames.
On the other hand, we need meat and/or vegetables regularly. Not only is the price spread between small-scale production and big-box store food large, but if you want to eat from small farms consistently the expenditure is ongoing, day after day.
One solution is to make small-farm products more fun, or at least more celebratory, to counter price-point exhaustion. Perhaps a better model is to encourage more buyers to splurge and buy a unique chicken, or ham, or box of veggies. It’s a rainbow box of heirloom carrots! It’s a creative new cut from the butcher! It’s the small farm Sunday night!
We small farmers might do better selling a little to a lot of people, rather than, as is the case now, a lot to fewer buyers.
— Tom Henry