To compound this situation, a recent government decision to make Alberta pork levies refundable is anticipated to place tighter fiscal restraints on Alberta Pork. These new realities have forced Alberta Pork to refocus its activities to only those mandated objectives that provide clear direct benefit to the primary pork producer.

In order to combat these new economic realities Alberta Pork will close its Consumer Services Division located in Calgary on 31 August 2010. For more than twenty years Alberta Pork has provided high quality food service and retail pork product information through numerous pork promotion and marketing campaigns. "The Consumer Services staff has serviced Alberta’s pork industry and the producers with a great deal of professionalism and their contributions will be missed," says Darcy Fitzgerald, Executive Director of Alberta Pork. "It is unfortunate that this action must be taken; however, change is required due to the new realities that we face in the hog industry."

Future efforts and support to the processing, food service, and retail sectors will be directed through a new but reduced national campaign effort for Canadian pork. This significant shift in strategic direction will reduce the budget strains at Alberta Pork as the organisation prepares to operate within a new more focused mandate.