Botswana meat exporters target new markets

Beef offers huge
export potential for
Botswana – and
initiatives are under
way to find new markets.
According to Portia
Motlhabane, acting corporate
communications and public
relations manager for the
Botswana Meat Commission
(BMC), new markets being
targeted include Russia,
mainland China and the US.
“Beef export volumes are
currently stable,” she told FTW.
“What is critical though is
finding more lucrative markets
and diverting the same volume
there so that we extract more
value for the same volume.”
She said the Far and Middle
East in particular held
significant.
BMC currently exports
beef to Europe, South Africa,
Angola, Kuwait and Vietnam.
“Beef
export is an
important
contributor to
the GDP of the
country,” said
Motlhabane.
“It is also a
significant
contributor to
the country’s
economic
diversification
drive and
provides
a livelihood to a large
proportion of farmers in
Botswana.”
She said finding export
markets willing to pay for
Botswana’s quality meat was a
key strategy at present.
BMC distributes its beef to
the European
market through
Table Bay
Cold Storage
(TBCS) in Cape
Town, fully
owned by the
Commission.
“Logistics
and the
cold chain
are critical
elements in the
export of beef.
Time is of the
essence,” said Motlhabane.
“On average it takes 25
days from dispatch to get
to European
destinations
as our meat is
transported by
sea to keep it affordable.
TBCS was acquired to
maintain cold chain between
production within southern
Africa and the customers in
the European markets.”
She said the facility
offered the optimal frozen,
refrigerated and dry cargo
storage and handling
environment, along with an
efficient and experienced
shipping and logistics solution
just 800 metres from the
harbour entrance.
“TBCS is also the first
Cape-based cold storage
facility to obtain European
Union approval for the
handling, storage and export
of meat to EU countries.”
INSERT
Table Bay Cold
Storage has European
Union approval for
the handling, storage
and export of meat
to EU countries.