Earls switches back to Canadian beef

Canadian beef is back on the menu at Earls restaurants, at least in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Earls president Mo Jessa announced Wednesday that 27 of its 66 restaurants are now serving Canadian-raised, ethicallytreated beef that is free of antibiotics and growth hormones. Therest of the restaurants willfollow suit over the next couple of years.

• Earls pledges to get Alberta beef on the menu after switch to U.S. supplier sparks backlash
• Earls restaurants' move to drop Alberta beef provokes backlash

"I learned something from this whole process and it was a good lesson," Jessa told reporters, speaking outside an Earls location in downtown Edmonton.

Two months ago, the Vancouver-based Earls came under fire when it announced it would start sourcing its beef from a Kansas ranchaccredited by the non-profit group Humane Farm Animal Care.

"We wanted to serve beef without antibiotics, hormonesand had certification for ethical treatment," Jessasaid.

While Canadian beef raised under those conditions exists, no single supplier was big enough to supply all 66 restaurants, he said.

'Today we changed the way we do things'

After Earls was castigated on social media, Jessa said, herealized his company made a huge mistake.

"Earls has been through a bit of a roller-coaster for the last little while. We've had to listen to our consumers," Jessa said."The way we were running our business, we just went to our suppliers when we needed product and we weren't working with the industry.

"Today we changed the way we do things.

Instead of looking for single-source supply, the company isnowwilling to work with multiple partners, Jessasaid.

Since the controversy,Jessa has gone out to visit Canadian cattle ranches and meet with suppliers and stakeholders"things I wasn't doing before," he said.

Earls is now working withBeretta Farms, based in Ontario,andSpring Creek Ranch, based inVegreville,Alta.

And Jessa admits thatworking with several smaller suppliers has made his job harder.

"It's hard work. It's more co-ordination that's required."