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BUSINESS
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2005
EDMONTON JOURNAL
Planet Organic draws
Newfound Health into orbit
AGRIBUSINESS
World champ of the lentils
Deirdre McMurdy
Saskcan Pulse Trading commands 98 per cent of Canada’s exports
The town of Davidson, Sask., (population: 1,117) has earned a place on the
Canadian map for several reasons.
It’s the midway point between Regina,
Saskatoon and Moose Jaw.
It’s the site of the world’s largest coffee
pot.
Davidson is also the hometown of MuradAl-Katib, theman whohas put Canada — and its lentils — on the international map.
As president andCEOofSaskcanPulse
Trading of Regina, which was named
Saskatchewan business of the year in
2004 by the Saskatchewan Chamber
ofCommerce,Al-Katibhas overseen this
country’s development into the world’s
largest processor andexporter oflentils.
That represents more than 900,000
tonnes annually, of which 98 per cent
is produced in Saskatchewan.
Furthermore, he has done this in just
three years by forging a public and private partnership, which includes the
federal and provincial governments as
well as the Turkish firm, Arbel Pulse and
Grain Company, BASF Canada, and the
farmers themselves. And in the most
Canadianof ways,hehas helped tobuild
regional agribusiness diversity through
his own diverse, multicultural roots.
“Growing up in Davidson, I played
hockey and curled and played baseball
like everyone else in town,” says Al-Katib, whose father, a doctor, emigrated to
the community from Turkey in 1965.
“Because I was born here, I could never
really understand why my mother insisted that all of us also learn to speak
Turkish.”
Thanks to his mother’s language
lessons — rather thanhis on-iceprowess
— Al-Katib was ready when Arbel, already the largest customer for Canadian lentils, decided to make a direct and
localinvestment inprocessing themprior to export.
“I had the right experience to get involved,but Ialso spoke thelanguageand
understood the culture,” he explains.
“That gave them theextraconfidence to
goahead, tofeel they communicateeasily with a local who also knew where
they were coming from.”
The boom in lentil crops over the past
several years is a function of several
things: international demand, a desire
to produce a commodity that is less
volatile in price than wheat, the drive to
avoid a price-fixing, central marketing
agency such as the Saskatchewan
Wheat Board,and theneed to rotate traditional crops with ones that restore nitrogen levels to the soil, which lentil
plants do.
Although poor growing conditions
affected the quality of last year’s lentil
cropand the strongCanadiandollar has
nibbled away at profit margins recently,
Al-Katib remains bullish on the outlook
for Saskatchewan producers, who have
now devoted more than two million
acres of land to lentil production.
Al-Katib’s optimism is based on the
continuing shift fromgreen to redlentils,
crops whichcommandapremiumprice
on international markets, and ongoing
investment in the development of new
seeds and refined varieties.
The farmers themselves are funding
part of this process by paying one per
cent of their gross revenues in a “check
off” that goes directly to researchanddevelopment through the Saskatchewan
Pulse Growers in Saskatoon.
“Everyone always challenges the role
of government in these initiatives,” AlKatib concedes. “But this is a model that
shows exactly why this sort of partnership can work. We’ve actually managed
to commercialize public policy.”
Henotes theprocessingfacility built in
Regina two years ago to peel, split and
polish local lentils, has added about 40
per cent to themarket valueof thecrops.
For Saskcan’s business model to continue working, however, the venture
must constantly race to remain the
world’s lowest cost producer of lentils,
principally because almost all other
growers aregeographically closer to the
major markets in the Middle East, India and Europe.
Soaring fuel costs have been a recent
hurdlefor Saskcanbecauseall thelentils
must be containerized and shipped by
rail from a landlocked region to international ports.
The transportation costs alone comprise about 20 per cent of the market
cost of Canadian lentils.
That compares with about a seven per
cent transportation cost component in
the price of rival Turkish lentils. Another challenge is to deal with customers of
distinct cultures andlanguages in 33 different countries.
“In theMiddleEast, understanding the
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Murad Al-Katib, president of Saskcan
Pulse Trading Inc.
culturalelement is essential.There,business is built on patience and relationships,” says Al-Katib. “It’s equally important to be sensitive to local pace and
preferences.”
For example, in the Middle East,
bright, shiny red lentils are considered
the most valuable, while in Europe, a
dull finish is more popular. That means
some of Saskcan’s product is highly polished with oil, while other batches are
untouched.
Al-Katib also emphasizes one powerful advantage his company has is its
Canadian identity.
“Canadians are often oblivious to the
fact how powerful this country’s reputation is in international markets. We’re
seen as fair and reliable and honest,”
he says. “They just love Canadians out
there.”
And they probably don’t even know
about the coffee pot in Davidson.
Deirdre McMurdy is co-host of Global
TV’s MoneyWise program
CanWest News Service
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Acetex Corp. has reported a loss of $8.4 million US on sales of
$135.7 million in the fourth quarter,
ahead of a $600-million takeover by
Celanese Corp.
Acetex, which reports in U.S. dollars,
said Monday that full-year sales of its
acetyls products and specialty polymers
and films came to $530.7 million, with
a net loss of $7.1 million.
The results included $4 million in
fourth-quarter non-operatingcosts arising from the transaction with Celanese
announced in October.
The company’s security holders approved the Celanese takeover last
month,but the transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals.
Acetex, with its head office in Vancouver andplants inEdmonton,France
and Spain, said its fourth-quarter sales
of $135.7 million were up from $114.4
million a year earlier. The $8.4-million
loss compares with a year-ago loss of
$7.9million.Assets stoodat $495.8million, against liabilities of $423 million.
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Business Opportunities & Ventures
Shell has announced it
plans to downsizeits Watertoncomplex
in southern Alberta as part of a project
to increase efficiency.
Thecompanysaysthedownsizingwill
be part of an overall program where it
will close two sulphur recovery plants,
replace a tail-gas cleanup unit, and install a smaller incinerator at a total cost
of $70 million.
The move will mean job losses for at
least some of the plant’s 140 employees
and40contractworkers,butplantmanagement can’t say how many will be
affected.
KevinMay, Shell’s manager of the Waterton region, said the news isn’t a surprise.
He said the company has been talking
about scaling back the facility since
the late 1980s.
Shell said the decision will increase industry competitiveness, reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and ensure longterm economic viability.
LETHBRIDGE /
Cogeco Cable Inc. has
struck deals with Telus Corp. and Cisco
Systems to provide services and technology so the cable TV operator can
launch residential digital phone service
later this year.
The cable TV company said Monday
that its residential voice service will be
based on network technology provided
by Cisco Systems and will connect to
other phone and long distance networks through Telus.
Cogeco expects to have its service
available by this summer. Other cable
TV operators, including Shaw, Rogers
and Videotron, have also launched or
plan to launch digital phone service via
cable TV wires.
“With this announcement, we are
demonstrating that Cogeco Cable is at
the forefront of communications innovations to serve our customers with
cost-effective and dynamic services,”
said Louis Audet, president and CEO of
Montreal-based Cogeco Cable.
The Montreal company is Canada’s
fourth-biggest cable TV operator, after
Rogers Cable, Shaw and Videotron, but
is the second-largest cable operator in
both Ontario and Quebec and has more
than 880,000 customers.
Cogeco Cable, with more than 1,200
employees, is a subsidiary of Cogeco
Inc. (TSX:CGO.SV), which holds 39.3
per cent of its stock.
In Journal Sports
Sideways,the movie about
two guys, a road trip and a
whole lot of wine, may be
sending pinot noir sales upward.
Pinot noir, the relatively
obscure red winebelovedby
the movie’s snobbish but
sweet character Miles, has
been experiencing a gentle
upswing in popularity for
some years. But the numbers jumped sharply after
Sidewaysopenedlast fall,according to supermarket,
drug and liquor store sales
data from ACNielsen.
Pinot noir sales reached
370,000 cases for the 12
weeks ending Jan. 15, up
nearly 16 per cent from the
BERKELEY
Shell plans to trim
Waterton plants, jobs
MONTREAL /
Joanne Ireland
same period a year ago, according to an ACNielsen
analysis to be released Monday.
Danny Brager, vice-president of ACNielsen Beverage
AlcoholTeam, saidinanews
release that it’s difficult to
quantify the movie’s exact
impact but “it looks like
more than a coincidence
that this varietal’s sales have
been stronger than ever
since the movie’s release.”
Vintners and wine store
owners say they’ve definitely noticed the Sideways effect.
In the movie, Miles, played
by Paul Giamatti, rhapsodizes about pinot noir, a
challenging grape to work
with. In Canada, it’s grown
in theOkanaganareaofB.C.
and in southern Ontario.
Cogeco Inc. also owns radio and TV
stations in Quebec.
In Monday trading on the Toronto
Stock Exchange, Cogeco Cable shares
(TSX:CCA.SV) were unchanged at
$25.60.
Cogeco taps Telus,
Cisco for phone lines
Centre Ice
Sideways nudge sends
pinot noir sales soaring
The Associated Press
and The Canadian Press
Health-food store owner
Planet Organic Corp. has signed a deal
to buy the 17-store Newfound Health
chain in Alberta for an undisclosed
amount, the company said Monday.
The Newfound chain will operate under Planet Organic’s Sangster division.
NewfoundHealth’spresidentAzimVelji
will remain to provide consulting and
management assistance to Planet Organic (TSXV:POH) during the transition, the company said in a release.
Terms of the agreement will be disclosed upon closing the acquisition,
which was subject to regulatory approval, Planet Organic said.
Planet Organic recently acquired
Sangster’s Health Centres, a 35-store
chain with franchised and corporate
outlets across Canada.
Planet Organic operates large natural
food supermarkets in Edmonton, Victoriaand Calgary, Port Coquitlam, B.C.,
and Halifax, and a chain of supplement
and market stores across Canada.
Its shares closed at $1.06, up 11 cents,
on the TSX Venture Exchange
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