Veal

Veal is a smaller Canadian trade than beef, concentrated in Quebec and Ontario, and it is bought on a different basis. The production system (grain-fed or milk-fed) determines meat colour and texture, and buyers generally have a firm preference driven by their cuisine and channel. They are not substitutes.

Cuts follow the beef vocabulary but at different weights and with tighter tolerance on colour, which is the attribute the end user judges first.

Volumes are smaller and programmes are correspondingly less flexible, so a buyer planning continuity should contract forward and not assume availability. Establishment eligibility applies as it does across all Canadian meat.

Veal offal is a separate trade again, with its own buyers and its own eligibility position. As with beef and pork, an approval covering muscle cuts from a plant says nothing about offal from the same plant, and the two should be confirmed separately.