#HOTCS: Carl Pilon, Ottawa

“During my first assignment abroad, while I was posted to Saudi Arabia, there was an outbreak of foot and mouth disease among cattle that began in the United Kingdom, then spread throughout Europe. So Saudi Arabia immediately banned the entry of all red meat products. Before that, all veal that entered Saudi Arabia came from either the Netherlands or Italy. So we passed that information on to Canadian companies, and two slaughterhouses that produce halal veal seized the opportunity. And overnight Saudi Arabia became one of the biggest markets for Canadian veal.”