VISION Our vision is to have the most sought-after meat brands in selected markets in the long-term interest of our stakeholders.
MISSION We will achieve this vision by creating added value for our customers through unique competencies, costeffective and innovative process, sound social and environmental practices, and motivated staff.
OBJECTIVE Our principal objective is to maximize producer returns sustainably.
As a consequence, we are constantly developing our value chain by placing greater emphasis on the quality and unique characteristics of our beef. Almost 100% of the slaughtered animal is processed and sold. In this way, we can maximise value addition opportunities.
Chapter 14 | Stakeholders
What drives Meatco?
To highlight the unique qualities of our product, we have developed our very own Natures Reserve brand of products, which-along with the Meatco brand-acts as a vehicle to extract the maximum value from international markets for the Corporation’s livestock producers. Meatco’s Natures Reserve brand has opened up free-range beef marketing channels and serves various international customers. We believe that the key to the unique flavour of Natures Reserve products is our emphasis on healthy and contented cattle and animal welfare is therefore a priority. All farms registered with Meatco are required to be members of the Farm Assured Namibian Meat (FAN Meat) scheme and to adhere fully to its high standards of livestock husbandry within the ‘Five Freedoms,’ which are an internationally recognised means of assessing good animal welfare (See page 80 for more details) All cattle in Namibia are allocated a unique identification ear tag to be able to trace their movements and monitor welfare standards, feed regimes, and many veterinary treatments they receive. In Namibia, we launched the Meatma brand and in addition to the outlet next to our head office in Windhoek, we added a second Meatma outlet in Okahandja, which provides an affordable, high-quality protein product directly to the Namibian public. Not only was this a prudent business move but it also reflects Meatco’s commitment to feeding our nation in a cost-effective way. We also have also have a strong range of canned meat brands in local and regional markets. These include the Texan, Eloolo and Ranch brands. In 2014, Meatco developed and launched two new caning labels or brands, aimed specifically at the African market: the Cattleman brand was designed for the Nigerian market and the Long-horn brand was mainly developed in order to create a platform for launching new products into the local and regional market. We have also established the market for our Texan brand in Zimbabwe. The development of additional products –such as Chicken Loaf, Luncheon Roll, Spaghetti and Meat Balls, and caned Vienna’s-is ongoing and these products are designed for the domestic and regional markets. We are engaged in the production of premium wet-blue hides through the Meatco Okapuka Tannery.
How we add value Adding value to Namibian beef starts in the veld, where farmers rear free-range cattle using natural methods. Animals are raised on veld grass for the majority of their lives and no growth hormones or routine antibiotics are used in their rearing. Apart from using naturally reared cattle for our production and ensuring they are treated according to strict animal welfare principles, we further differentiate ourselves by eschewing commodity trading as far as possible. So we do not sell carcasses in international markets but focus instead on producing value-added, deboned cuts of meat to meet various client specifications for customers across the world. Our aim is to add as much value to carcasses as possible and to thus closely align ourselves with the needs of the end consumer of our products. Our labour intensive value addition focus has assisted Meatco in creating more than 1,000 jobs.
The price that results from the value addition that Meatco generates from all these different markets and operations benefits all Namibian cattle producers-even those who not to sell to Meatco ad those who are in the weaner production business (Meatco only slaughters adult animals).The price that Meatco pays for cattle is used locally by competitors to determine their price for slaughter animals. Meatco therefore sets the benchmark for cattle prices in Namibia and elevates it because of our ability to sell into export markets.
Business environment We operate in a highly competitive business environmentlocally, regionally and internationally. We have to position our products in strategic niche markets in competition with the big beef-producing countries such as Australia and Brazil. Through our world-class processes, consistent product quality, and our Natures Reserve brand, we have managed to successfully differentiate ourselves from other abattoirs and processors.
The Agri Handbook 2015
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