Panama Beef Slices Way Through Competition
By Mike Danna
Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation Public Relations Director
You don’t get to be the largest food distributor in Panama by cutting corners.
You do it by cutting beef. And pork and everything else the Panamanian consumer, regardless of income, needs.
Our Saturday tour began at the Grupo Rey, the U.S. equivalent to Sysco Systems. Employing more than 7,000 people between its retail stores and distribution outlets, Grupo Rey processes, packages, delivers and sells much of the grocery store food sold in Panama.
The company, more than 100 years old, was founded on the principle that no matter how much or how little money you had in your pocket shouldn’t be a factor when it comes to feeding your family. It’s a novel idea in the U.S. even today, so in 1908 it must have been revolutionary.
Nuely De La Cruz, who led our tour of Grupo Rey, said the company processes tens of thousands of pounds of beef and pork each day at its plant in Panama City. And by processing I mean lots of people with very sharp knives and one wicked band saw. We toured the floor of the processing room, where workers were cutting up pork and beef, packaging and vacuum sealing all manner of proteins. But before we were able to see the process, we had to suit up from head to toe in protective gear.
Hairnets are usually the norm on a tour like this, but because the company is so particular about quality control, we also wore jackets, surgical masks and plastic shoe covers. Drew Wiggers’ mask didn’t quite cut it on that beard of his. No one seemed to notice. Brandon Gravois complained he had two left shoe covers and asked for right one. We looked like a bunch of doctors ready for surgery as we left the ready-room for our tour.
The company showed its hospitality by feeding us some of its fresh fruit. The mangos were outstanding and the bananas were sweeter than I’ve ever tasted. Watermelon, coffee and bottled water rounded out the snack.
At around noon we boarded the bus, left Panama City and headed for Santiago, about four hours away. Once there we toured the Canadero San Marcos Ranch, owned and operated by the family of Rodrigo Spiegel.
The ranch raises registered Brahman cattle in a big way, but not for beef to feed Panamanians. Rather, the ranch is focused on genetics, primarily bulls. And any cattle producer will tell you better beef starts with better bulls. While the ranch does operate a slaughterhouse for its cull cows, most of its pure bred animals end up on ranches in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Mexico.
It’s more economical to raise beef for genetics, Spiegel said, rather than the Panamanian dinner plate. “The cost of corn is too expensive,” he said. “We do feed some corn to the calves, but we have so much grass that all of our cattle are grass fed. And we work with our buyers. If they tell us something is not right we correct it.”
Dr. Guillermo Scaglia, associate professor of animal science and nutrition and a member of Class 13, said the Canadero Ranch has “worked the numbers” and genetics is where the profit is.
“While they will never be an economic threat to the U.S., they are taking pride in developing programs that allow them to be a leader in this area in Central America,” Scaglia said.
We got to see the animals and their cowboys up close (Check out Jim’s photos of them.) The animals spend much of the day being herded from one pasture to another, grazing on grass nearly to their knees. There’s no such thing as rotational grazing here. The family owns so much land it’s never an issue.
When asked how many cattle and how much land the family has, Rodrigo quipped such things aren’t discussed in public.
“Let’s just say we’re the biggest,” he laughed. And for a country as small as Panama that’s very big.
There won’t be a new post tomorrow evening. It’s a travel day as we make our way to Nicaragua. We don’t check in to the hotel until around 10 p.m. Sunday, but to make up for it I’ll post a personal brief Sunday morning.
Until next time…