The company in recent years has also revamped its ingredient sourcing and promoted its menu items accordingly -- among them beef raised without the use of hormones or steroids, eggs from hens fed a diet without animal byproducts, chicken raised without the use of antibiotics and bacon from hogs raised without the use of antibiotics.
The changes to the chain's beef sourcing policy led it to expand its supply lines beyond Canada to also include producers in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand who could meet the new requirements, which in turn led to backlash from some quarters in the Canadian livestock sector
A&W blames the weather.
It was a dark and stormy night. The winter blizzard worse than anyone could recall.
I left the big rig running, stepped down and headed for the A&W restaurant door.
Just then I noticed some pale figures in the darkness. Their stetsons covered with snow.
They were two pioneer farm families, who told me their tale of woe.
It seems that some restaurants would no longer buy the beef, bacon, and eggs they'd been raising.
Without that income, they couldn't make payments to the lumber company for the lumber they'd financed to build barns, cabins, corrals and a hen house.
The back of their land titles had a note stating the Imperial Lumber Co. had a right to their homestead should they default on payment.
There was something hauntingly familiar about their faces. Like those of the old handed down photo albums on my mantle.
Suddenly, I wasn't hungry anymore.
I gave the two men all the money I had.
As they led their family back into the blizzard. I called out and asked them their name.
Barely able to hear above the wind, one replied, Albert, the other said Walter.
Before climbing back into the truck. I checked the steers in the trailer, and thought to myself.
Albert and Walter, eh, but when my father was only 3yrs old. He'd called them, grandpa.
A&W has expanded its supply lines beyond Canada to to also include producers in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand who could meet the new requirements
Since Canadian suppliers couldn't meet the all of the demand and A&W had to include suppliers outside Canada, you're going to effectively boycott the Canadians supplying A&W? So explain why you think it's a good idea to boycott Canadian suppliers to A&W?
$3.50 Teen Burgers here in Victoria. Excellent.
Good job calling A&W on their sourcing but let's let them actually bring the ship back around before boycotting. They made a mistake. They should fix it.
What boycott of Canadian suppliers? If I choose to buy a burger at a different chain then they will simply buy more burgers from their suppliers. Net effect, zero.
The other burger 'chains' buy from outside Canada too.
Yeah, they are here too. It's a great tasting burger at a fair price and the coffee is excellent with free refills. AS&W does well in our town.
It's the economy in Alberta and Sask.
Fewer people working.
Given the complications involved in trans border supplier sourcing
and paying bills with foreign exchange fluctuation exposure, it is
always "interesting" when some businesses choose that route.
Makes you start to wonder what other tightropes they have found to
play on while trying to banish boredom in the exec suite.
Some are still missing the point that A&W is taking what Canadians can supply, then they go elsewhere. Why is that so difficult to grasp?
If you don't like patronizing A&W that's fine, just don't make up bullshit excuses to justify it.
As a Cdn livestock farmer, I haven't gone through A&W's doors since their BS moves. I used to, don't anymore. My livestock would meet their definitions but who cares. It would be like advertising gluten free beef. They try to build themselves up by discrediting everyone else through dishonest advertising. Not a business I'm comfortable dealing with. If they are dishonest on this, what else is going on in the kitchen?
Yeah, that chicken tastes so much better because of their sourcing. I guess they had been selling cardboard for the prior decades? Plain dishonesty.
I quit eating at A&W because of their anti-science marketing and their indifference to buying locally produced ingredients.
It is interesting that they don't mention their ingredient sourcing causes a significantly larger carbon footprint.
A&W dropped on the list of places I like to go for lunch from #2 to the bottom of the list shortly after that little fat guy started telling me that they only served antibiotic/steroid free beef. There are a lot of burger chains out there that serve Canadian beef because it is healthy. When A&W drops the nonsense about unhealthy meat and finds a different mascot/mouthpiece and sells Canadian beef I may frequent their stores more often. Until then.....
Are you saying that Canadian Beef and poultry isn't good enough because it doesn't meet A&W's holier-than-thou marketing plan?
A&W seems to be suggesting there is something wrong with what Canadian farmers are producing. We all know "organic" is a huge, and dangerous, load when it comes to mass production.
I wouldn't be surprised to find out that A&W's sources aren't so clean as it is much more expensive to bring them to market. Maybe those producers are taking a loss now in hopes of eliminating the competition.
Regardless, I noticed a change in the flavour of A&W burgers a few years ago. They are not near as good as they once were.
Their marketing reminds me of "climate change" claims. Turns me off big time.
They are the Earl's of the fast food chains.
I drive from SE BC to Calgary it is a rare trip that I am not passed by 2 dozen cattle liners headed for Pasco, Washington. If Canadian restaurants are sourcing from the USA who's beef are we actually buying? Take the USA market from AB beef producers and how badly does that impact them? I suggest far worse than A&W shunning their product.
I was a big fan of A&W back in the day. If I have a burger now adays it is usually Wendy's. Not so much because of the A&W policy, which I don't agree with, but because Wendy's burgers are better IMHO.
The tempest over A&W and their marketing is a bit farcical. Bottom line is that there is a segment that likes their message. You could extend the boycott rationale to many products in the market place. I boycott Tropicana bananas because of their anti oil sands position. Boycotting GMO products is a joke but many people do that. I choose not too.
Here's an idea for A&W ... perhaps they should drop their meat menu altogether. Change their menu to include vegetarian chick pea flaffels and curry dishes ? I'll bet those would become big sellers in Trudeau's Canada.I
They should adopt a totally Halal menu ... blessed by an in-house Imam. Albert & Walter ... changed to Abbas and Wahlid
Mike, Walter F, and Joe say it well.
We also have not been back to A & W since their anti-science advertising began. I also emailed them and told them why we stopped patronizing them.
CT, thanks for the tip about Tropicana.
I'm not boycotting A&W as such, but I go there a lot less frequently, and it is due to their silly marketing campaign for oovy-doovy meat and chicken. Chickens, FFS, are natural-born carnivores. You buy "free range" eggs, well those free-ranging chickens are eating bugs and worms. It's what they do.
I'll slide in A&W for the "All Canadian Breakfast Special" when travelling - it's fast & cheap, and as good as any other.
https://web.aw.ca/en/our-menu/breakfast/all-canadian-special
Otherwise I naturally boycott all fast-food anyway, 99% homemade.
When any business swings politically LEFT, I take my money RIGHT to their competition.
The A&W campaign plays to public ignorance of the livestock industry. The public largely believes that all meat has growth hormones. Increasingly this is not the case and maybe the A&W advertising campaign has had by some measure something to do with that.
Their campaign while not coming right out and saying so suggests the meat supply in unsafe and by extension only A&W meat is safe. IMO something inherently dishonest is taking place using tactics like that.
My complaint with A&W rests on that premise. They are free to do what they like and I will do likewise.
I just dont go to a&w becasue their burgers are small and garbage tasting , and everytime i eat one it comes out totally green in my shit. thats not healthy . everyother burger i eat or bbq n eat comes out fine and looks decent.
If you,r hell bent on eating free range eggs you should know that ,if possible, they head for the nearest pile of manure whenever they can.we have a small flock of chickens and that is exactly what they do..yes, the eggs look and taste better but the Eco freaks should know chickens like to scratch in horse sh$t..
Not hard to boycott A&W because their prices are way more than McDonalds for the same quality.
I no longer patronize A&W either. Used to be a big fan. What I don't see mentioned here yet is the change in packaging for the burgers. Used to be a foil lined bag - now it's half a bag made of flimsy paper. Burger is cold before it gets into my car. Used to be warm after I brought it home.
I agree with the comments on the lefty marketing campaign they are running. If they think Canadians are that stupid, they should lose our business on that point alone.
Are you saying that Canadian Beef and poultry isn't good enough because it doesn't meet A&W's holier-than-thou marketing plan?
Nope, I never said that you did. Stop trying to "put words in people's mouths." It's ignorant.
If you could read and comprehend then you could see that A&W does buy from Canadian suppliers.
You really did miss the point of my original post on this. It appears that English comprehension isn't your strong suit. Jumping to unfounded conclusions sure is though.
Exactly!! You and K99 are among the few making good sense. Most of the rest appear to be knee-jerking to unfounded conclusions to justify their preconceived notions.
finds a different mascot/mouthpiece
Remember that this dude is just an actor reading the lines he's been told to. He's not responsible for the message, he's just trying to pay the bills.
(And don't start with the "he shouldn't be doing the job, then" argument because getting a decent paying acting gig is Hard, and everyone's employer does unsavory things)
"Most of the rest appear to be knee-jerking to unfounded conclusions to justify their preconceived notions."
Kinda like your knee-jerking reaction to unfounded conclusions to justify your preconceived notions?
In any event, I prefer a sit down breakfast/lunch, preferably at home. But if not, I like real plates, glasses/cups, and utensils. I also like comfortable chairs or booths when I'm there.
The best food comes from places that don't need a marketing message.
Agree with you.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0525806/
I'm sure he isn't doing it for the love of A&W.
The 2 reasons I don't go there...and was NEVER a Fan.
The soft drinks have no ICE...
Their food makes me Burp for hours after...
..and isn't the whole premise behind the ad campaign suspect anyway? If the theme of your ads is your competitors products are laced with harmful substances, isn't the consumer just apt to say to himself "you know what, just to be 'safe' I don't think I'll bother with any fast food burgers"
For anyone that has even half a brain ... the ad means that they were poisoning their customers until they saw the light.
Hmmmm ... yum ... nothing better than sound bite food!!!!
Did you know in Richmond, BC there are several hundred Chinese restaurants that all have the best Chinese food in Richmond? Oddly, there isn't a single one that claims they have the worst.