adminGolden Sibanda
Zimbabwe’s biggest tea and coffee producer, Tanganda Tea Company, intends to diversify into organic beef production in Insiza, Matabeleland South Province to tap into good export potential of natural beef, a senior executive said.
Financial director Henry Nemaire said his company was looking to work with and capacitate farmers in the district to produce organic beef for export markets.
Tanganda is a major food corporation in Zimbabwe and forms part of the Meikles Group, one of the largest Zimbabwean companies which also owns hotels and department stores in the country.
“We are planning to do a big beef project in Insiza District. It’s going to be organic beef exports, it is a big export. It will employ a lot of people and of course downstream, we will work with the local community in the out-grower beef programme, where we empower the small-scale beef producers and work on infrastructure,” Nemaire said.
He said Tanganda will also provide assistance such as extension services to farmers, in its quest to increase beef production in Zimbabwe and generate exports through organic beef.
“What we are waiting for is Government’s move on land. We have made an application and are waiting for Government to avail the land,” he said.
“It’s a big (organic beef) export project.”
The Tanganda financial director said organic beef production entailed rearing beef cattle exclusively fed on natural grass. He said organic beef was a very profitable export.
However, Tanganda is a little worried that Government has appeared to drag its feet in providing the requisite land for free range grazing beef production despite the export potential.
Zimbabwe used to earn $45 million annually through beef exports to the European Union, under a $2 billion export quarter, when the Cold Storage Company was still the largest meat processor in Africa.
Asked to comment on reservations that have previously been raised about foot and mouth in Zimbabwe given the company’s plans to export to European markets, Nemaire said the area in which the project will be done was not a “Red Zone”.
Zimbabwe suspended all beef exports, from black listed regions, to the EU in August 2001 following the outbreak of foot and mouth disease.
The country’s largest beef processor and marketer, Cold Storage Company, used to have an annual quota of beef exports to the European Union of 9 100 tonnes and it last exported beef in 2007.
Going forward, rearing cattle on certified organic fodders is turning out to be more profitable than conventional practices.
Growing consumer concerns, worldwide, over food safety has propelled huge demand for organically produced foods, and has incidentally affected global beef production.
Particularly in developed markets, the demand for organic beef is gaining traction pertaining to the rising confidence of consumers towards organic beef over regular beef.
The main difference between these options lies in the fodder fed to the cattle, at which point organic fodder is healthier and nutritious than regular cattle feed.
Research carried out in 2017 shows that over 1,5 million tonnes of organic beef meat is anticipated to be consumed across the globe.
Future Market Insights’ recent study on global organic beef meat market projects that by the end of this year, the global market will be valued a little over $8,8 billion.
The report by Future Market Insights projects that by the end of 2027, the value of global market for organic beef meat will double, surpassing $16,4 billion and reflecting a healthy compound annual growth rate of 6,4 percent.
Further, the FMI report anticipates that through 2027, around 30 percent of organic beef meat consumed in the world will be concentrated in Western Europe.
Bongani Ndlovu