“We can see that some of the work we’re doing is helping to diversify further into other markets,” said Albert Eringfeld, Canada Beef’s vice-president for export market development

Representing a win for the Canadian beef industry, JBS Canada and Costco Mexico recently struck a deal that will see about 20,000 tonnes of beef shipped from the JBS Brooks plant to Costco stores in Mexico.

The agreement, which had been in the works for about a year, was officially announced during a ribbon-cutting ceremony last month at a Costco store just outside Mexico City. Heath MacDonald, Canada’s Agriculture and Agri-Food minister, was among the officials in attendance.

 “Canada values these partnerships and remains committed to strengthening mutually beneficial trade with key markets”

Albert Eringfeld, Canada Beef’s vice-president for export market development, said this week that attracting a retailer such as Costco is “huge” for Canada.

“Any new volume of beef to any export market is always a good thing for our beef industry,” he said in an interview.

Canada Beef had helped with the introductions and used some money to support the promotion of the beef to help facilitate the deal, said Eringfeld.

Canada Beef, which has an office in Mexico, has heard from Mexican buyers that they’re not happy with the “U.S. rhetoric” regarding trade, and are also looking to diversify to other sources of beef, said Eringfeld.

Canada already has a big presence in Mexico, which is the third largest export market for Canadian beef.

But growth is occurring in some markets, such as Vietnam and the Philippines, that had previously seen little to none, he said.

“We can see that some of the work we’re doing is helping to diversify further into other markets,” said Eringfeld.

But despite these efforts, the United States remains the top importer of Canadian beef.

“The U.S. is such a big market and they pay good dollars,” said Eringfeld, adding that with production down in the U.S., it’s an even bigger consumer than in the past.

The day before the announcement, MacDonald met with Julio Berdegué, Mexico’s Agriculture and Rural Development secretary, to discuss relations between the two countries, as part of a plan aimed at advancing shared goals over the next three years.

According to an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada news release, those meetings occurred amid “renewed momentum” in relations between the two countries.

The meetings followed Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to Mexico and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s visit to Kananaskis in June for the G7 Leaders’ Summit, which “presented new opportunities to deepen co-operation in sustainable agribusiness and inclusive trade, while benefiting economies in both nations.”

In a statement, MacDonald said having Canadian beef in 42 Costco stores across Mexico marks a “significant milestone in strengthening Canada–Mexico agri-food trade relations and reflects growing consumer demand and deepening commercial ties in a key export market.”

“This achievement is the result of strong collaboration between JBS Foods Canada, Canada Beef, and Costco Mexico. Canada values these partnerships and remains committed to strengthening mutually beneficial trade with key markets,” said MacDonald.