BUSINESS
B1 Bank CEOs refocus priorities
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 15, 2014
CANADIANS BORROW LESS, TURN TO SAVING BY THE CANADIAN PRESS TORONTO — Canada’s biggest banks say consumers are reaching the limit on how much they can afford to borrow, and that’s likely to slow loan growth this year. Royal Bank (TSX:RY) chief executive Gord Nixon said Tuesday he expects Canadian households will begin to show more restraint. “In terms of pure consumer lending (growth), we’ll prob-
ably be operating at a much lower rate than we have been over the last few years,” he told a bank industry conference. “There’s no question that the consumer has been leveraged up.” Canadians have taken advantage of low interest rates for years by borrowing record amounts that could leave them vulnerable. Policy-makers have expressed concern that a sudden rise in interest rates would
leave many consumers unable to meet their payments, potentially causing a fallout that ripples through the housing market and consumer spending. Statistics Canada reported last month that household debt touched an all-time high during the third-quarter of 2013, inching up 0.6 percentage points to 163.7 per cent over the summer months. The increase means Canadians owe nearly $1.64 for every $1 in disposable income
they earn in a year. Nixon said he expects consumer lending growth to remain tight, rising by mid single-digit levels, for “an extended period of time” after several years of double-digit increases. “What would be the most healthy outcome for the marketplace is for there to be a steady, orderly increase in interest rates to a reasonable level,” he said. A slower increase in the debt levels of Canadians
would help shift away from a dependence on the consumer for overall economic growth, said Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO) chief executive Bill Downe. He expects U.S. business loans will become a more dominant force in the banking industry this year. BMO could gain a share of that growth through the presence of its Harris bank in the U.S. Midwest.
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AGRONOMY UPDATE 2014
Digital tools helping crops BY HARLEY RICHARDS ADVOCATE BUSINESS EDITOR
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Keri Adams and her son Korbin in the kitchen where Stellas Perogies are made in Lacombe.
Stellas cooks up stomach-friendly perogies BY HARLEY RICHARDS ADVOCATE BUSINESS EDITOR About six years ago, Keri Adams set out to find a perogy that her autistic son could eat. Thanks to her efforts, people across Western Canada who have dietary restrictions are now enjoying the stuffed dough dumplings — as well as ravioli and pizza pouches. All are produced by Stellas Inc., a Lacombe-based business that grew out of Adams’ quest for stomach-friendly foods. “All of our products are gluten-free, but a lot of them are egg-free, corn-free, dairy-free, sulphitefree,” she said. Stellas sells a vegan cheddar perogy, a potato perogy for people who can’t digest onion, and a pepperfree perogy for asthmatics. It supplies big retailers like Sobeys, as well smaller stores such as Nutter’s Bulk & Natural Foods, and specialty shops. “Right from B.C. to Manitoba,” said Adams, adding that Stellas’ products are even available in Ontario. Trained as a rehab therapist, Adams never planned to get into the food industry. But she developed an interest in nutrition after discovering that her autistic son Korbin, who was then four, did much better on a gluten-free, dairy-free diet. “Once I started taking foods away, it was within 24 to 48 hours he started talking again and sleeping through the night.” However, Adams soon realized that Korbin’s restricted diet left her with few options when she
was pushing a grocery cart. Particularly troublesome was the fact that some of his favourite foods were on the blacklist. “We’re Ukrainian, so not having perogies was a problem.” Out of desperation, Adams began experimenting in her own kitchen. Working with specialty flours and other ingredients, she tried to develop a dough that would hold together well enough for use in perogies. The trial-and-error process resulted in a few culinary calamities.
things,” she explained of her choice of foods. The name Stellas was borrowed from Adams’ late grandmother, who lived long enough to see her granddaughter succeed. But she’s betrayed her Ukrainian heritage in one respect. “Now I can’t make a regular perogy to save my life,” said Adams. “The dough just feels so weird after working with glutenfree.” One of the satisfying things about operating Stellas is the impact its products has on customers, she said. “There are people who haven’t had a perogy for 30 years.” Adams believes Stellas’ products, which shun preservatives and other things that can cause allergic reactions, while em— KERI ADAMS phasizing locally grown ingredients, are a good choice “My baba and my mom gave up for everyone. on me,” laughed Adams. “People feel better when they But she persevered, and as eat that way,” she said. “It’s not president of the Autism Society just autism or celiacs, it’s fibromyof Central Alberta had plenty of algia, or people with arthritis.” willing testers. As the quality of As for Korbin, he continues to her perogies increased, so did de- thrive on his modified diet. Now mand for them. a Grade 4 French immersion stuEventually, a local health food dent, he enjoys dabbling in Grade store requested a batch, which Ad- 10 geometry. ams prepared in a rented church “He’s wicked smart,” said Adkitchen. ams, adding that her son also “They were gone, like, the next takes karate and plays minor footday.” ball. Soon, Adams had moved into a Stellas, which employs five, has commercial kitchen, brought on just moved into bigger premises. staff and even obtained a mechan- There are no plans for new types ical mixer. With her dough prob- of products, but Adams doesn’t lem solved, she was also able to dismiss the possibility. expand into other products. “You never know. Never say “Perogies, ravioli and pizza never.” pops were Korbin’s favourite hrichards@reddeeradvocate.com
‘ONCE I STARTED TAKING FOODS AWAY, IT WAS WITHIN 24 TO 48 HOURS HE STARTED TALKING AGAIN AND SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT.’
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Harley Richards, Business Editor, 403-314-4337 E-mail hrichards@reddeeradvocate.com
Agricultural scientists from across Alberta are in Red Deer this week for Agronomy Update 2014. The annual event, which kicked off Tuesday and continues today, features presentations on soil and crop issues. About 400 people were on hand for yesterday’s proceedings, which included pest and disease forecasts for 2014, as well as discussions on control measures. Among Tuesday’s presenters was Kelly Turkington, a plant pathology research scientist at the Lacombe Research Centre. He discussed how digital photography provides a good tool with which to diagnose crop problems. “You’re in the field, you see an issue, you can act on that,” he said, explaining how a producer can snap a photo with a smartphone and email it to a crop specialist — and possible receive a reply within minutes. That compares with the old practice of collecting samples, packaging and transporting these, and then waiting for a response. In 2012, said Turkington, he received 40 to 60 emailed photos with requests for feedback. When he’s uncertain about a problem, he’s able to forward the image to other experts for their opinions. “In some cases, we’re starting to see these images and requests being posted online on some of the social media sites, like Twitter. “In that case, you might actually have advice from all over the world.” Unfortunately, said Turkington, the images he receives are sometimes of poor quality or lack sufficient background information with which to make a diagnosis. He offered tips for taking usable pictures, including placing plant samples on a flatbed scanner to obtain a magnified digital likeness. Also speaking on Tuesday was Daniel Itenfisu, a drought modeler and agricultural water management engineer with the provincial government. He described how Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development has developed a weather station network with which to monitor draught and excessive moisture, among other climatic information. Itenfisu explained that the province decided to adopt a risk management approach to drought after particularly dry years in 2001 and 2002. But it lacked reliable data with which to do so. Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development responded by setting up 47 weather stations in 2003 and 2004, and has since added more. Agriculture Financial Services Corp. also contributed more than 100, and with weather stations belonging to Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, Alberta Environment and other organizations, the tally is up to about 373. “So we have now a really reasonably good density of weather stations across the province,” said Itenfisu. Among the data being collected is temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, precipitation levels and solar radiation. This information is valuable for such applications as irrigation and farm water management, crop insurance, grass fire risk reporting and more. Because the data can be accessed online at www. agric.gov.ab.ca/acis, farmers can also use it to manage their operations, said Itenfisu. They can check current and historic conditions at nearby weather stations, he said, and even overlay Environment Canada radar images onto their farms. Also available are maps that compare current precipitation levels and other weather conditions to historical trends. Agronomy Update 2014 was organized by Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Battle River Research Group. It’s geared for grain producers, crop advisers and industry representatives. hrichards@reddeeradvocate.com
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