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The farmer’s share, while driving significant economic contributions to Canada’s GDP and economy, is really just a small part of the prices that Canadians pay for the chicken they buy in stores or restaurants. Farmers are often blamed for the price of food, but they don’t set the prices you pay for your chicken. Retailers and restaurants do.
Farmers actually receive only a small percentage of the consumer dollar that is spent on food. In most cases, the farmer’s share is less than the taxes on the meal itself, and much less than the tip or gratuity given to the person that spends 1 hour serving you in the restaurant.
At the retail level, chicken is sold at a variety of price levels and consumers have access to a wide variety of cuts and types of product that were developed in response to consumer demand. These products are sold at whatever price that consumers will pay – all without any influence of the farmer.
Retail pricing is influenced by many factors, only one of which the farmer’s share. Others include retailer competition, brand positioning, cost of competing meats, store specials – all of which usually cause price fluctuations that are greater than the share the farmer receives. Prices can vary from week to week, from region to region, from store to store, and from product to product. This demonstrates that the farmer’s share is not the driver of retail pricing.
And the fact is, our farmers only get paid for the chicken they sell and the pricing is transparent. There are no hidden subsidies. Only chicken consumers pay for chicken. This is not the case for other commodities which have received substantial financial support from federal and provincial governments. Through their taxes, Canadians pay for beef and pork whether they consume it or not. They even pay for consumers in other countries to eat our beef and pork that is sold around the globe.
The farmer’s share is a small percentage of the final sale price of chicken sold in Canada, but is no less important because it sustains our family farms and ensures that families like yours can continue to buy our fresh, safe and delicious chicken for generations to come.
Fresh. Family-farmed. Delicious. That’s Canadian chicken.
