When you stop by your local Co-op Food Store for a rotisserie chicken, you know that you’re getting a quick, delicious entrée.
What you might not know is that your rotisserie chicken is a product of Co-op’s unique relationship with Western Canadian producers: one that starts on the farm and ends with healthy meals on your family’s table.
Co-op sources most of the chicken sold in their delis – rotisserie and fried – through Prairie Pride Natural Foods Ltd., a Saskatoon-based company. Operating since 2006 and employing approximately 350 people, Prairie Pride raises, buys and processes chickens for customers across Canada and even beyond. And their relationship with Co-op is truly full circle: through fuel and feed, Co-op is there for every part of the food production cycle, making this a truly farm-to-fork story.
Flocking together
Five of the farms that raise their chickens are owned by Prairie Pride, including Prairie View Farms near Wynyard, Sask. Wynyard Co-op has been supplying Prairie View Farms’ fuel since 2005, even before Prairie Pride became a member.
In recent years, Santosh Lamichhane, Senior Poultry Sales Specialist with Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL), has been working with them to introduce Co-op Feed to their flock.
“Working with Prairie Pride as their feed supplier has been truly rewarding,” said Santosh. “Seeing our feed contribute to their high-quality chicken and then seeing their products in our grocery store delis completes the farm-to-fork cycle.”
Developing the feed plan for this barn was a team effort that took the birds’ nutrition and welfare into consideration. Healthy, happy birds are thriving birds, which helps the company achieve its goal to provide a quality product to consumers.
It also helps them manage waste and expenses. “The feed quality plays a big role in reducing wastage and costs,” said Dinesh Kumar, Lead Monogastric Nutritionist with FCL.
Safety first
Providing consumers with safely and humanely raised animals, while also considering the health and safety of their employees, is always at the forefront of Prairie Pride’s thoughts.
Not only do they have procedures in place to keep both people and birds safe, they are also audited three to four times per year by provincial and federal agencies. These audits look at everything from the amount of light the birds have each day to time spent in transit. As well, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has someone in the plant each time chickens are processed.
Shared values in the community
Because Prairie View Farms is located in Wynyard, Prairie Pride makes an effort to support the community as much as they can. As Jonathan McLenehan, Agro/Petroleum Manager at Wynyard Co-op noted, “They are a local business like Wynyard Co-op, providing employment to local citizens, and much like the Co-op, providing quality products to the Wynyard community and the surrounding areas.”
Along with providing employment, Prairie Pride donates to events and supports local businesses for service and supplies when possible. They know that working together and supporting one another is the key to success – for communities and businesses.
This is another area where Co-op and Prairie Pride are in sync. “Supporting local business and processing in Western Canada is a shared commitment for both Co-op and Prairie Pride,” said Shelley Revering, Manager, Farm to Fork with FCL. “We are so fortunate to work alongside the team at Prairie Pride, providing feed and fuel for production and distribution while improving consumer accessibility to locally raised, fresh deli-roasted chickens across the Co-operative Retailing System.”
Ron Patterson, CEO of Prairie Pride, voiced a similar sentiment. “Dealing with the individuals at Co-op, you get the impression that they’re as invested as we are,” he said. “We’re a 100% Western Canadian-based company with a family feel, and Co-op is the same. Knowing Co-op has those same values is an added bonus.”
Common thread
Everyone involved in getting the chickens from the farm to the table expresses the same feelings of pride.
“I like to see consumers pick up our product and take it home,” said Sandy Zerebeski, Director of Farm Operations at Prairie Pride. “It’s a big sense of pride that something grown in Saskatchewan is being taken home by Co-op customers.”
So, the next time you take home a rotisserie chicken from the Co-op deli, know you’re getting a high-quality product raised through teamwork, from the farm to your fork.
