Botswana Meat Commission
Meat-ing Specifications
Botswana Meat Commission
Meat-ing Specific
Following a period of significant invest Commission is developing new sources of reve and adapting to customer dema
Written by: Ella Copela
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tment, the Botswana Meat enue, expanding its market ands and export conditions
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t Botswana Meat Commission (BMC), the focus is on longterm success. A major exporter of beef into the European market, the not-for-profit government subsidiary has been working with government officials to complete an extensive continuous improvement strategy; investing heavily in their abattoirs to meet new safety standards in the EU. Formed through an act of parliament in 1965, the Botswana Meat Commission is pivotal to agricultural success in Botswana, offering small independent livestock owners a market to sell their produce. A non-profit organisation, the BMC work to a government mandate with the interests of Botswana’s farmers at its heart; purchasing cattle from Botswana’s small and large scale farmers in order to slaughter to EU standards, and then marketing and exporting the meat for the best possible price. Dr Stephen Ghanie, Executive Manager of Innovation and Strategy at BMC, said: “The majority of farmers in Botswana are small farmers, communal farmers; individually the farmers would own anything from a head 3
Botswana Meat Commission Meat-ing specifications
For many years the BMC has been a benchmark for quality livestock of three to 40-50 cattle. The BMC purchase and slaughter cattle from farmers then market and sell the meat and give the farmers back a fair price.” Under the conditions of the government mandate, the BMC can take steps to develop the business in addition to providing back up money for farmers at times of low demand. “BMC is not supposed to be a profitable creation, and according to the Act it can make profits in as far as to enable capital expenditures and to pay tax, and for the purpose of putting some money in its stabilisation reserve to allow for rainy days and then any excess profits made should be given back to farmers as a bonus. Presently, BMC prefers to increase 4
producer prices over paying bonus,” said Ghanie. Owning a total of three abattoirs in Botswana, the company has facilities in Lobatse, which houses the head office, in addition to abattoirs in Francistown and Maun. Together slaughtering more than 1,000 cattle a day, each facility houses a cutting plant and abattoir, in addition to a cannery and tannery in Lobatse.
Benchmark for Quality For many years the BMC has been a benchmark for quality in the African meat markets complying with EU import standards in production and animal welfare. Since their inception in 1965, the BMC’s have supplied countries in the EU, specifically the UK, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy and Norway until late 2011. Following changes to EU specifications, the BMC voluntarily delisted two of their plants from EU export specification in 2011 due to issues regarding compliance in the areas of animal identification and the certification of products from Botswana, but following the efficient implementation of the new standards, the BMC regained the certification to sell in EU territories
Export abattoirs in Botswana are used by most African countries as benchmark abattoirs, because there are not many that operate at such high standards as ours.” — Dr Stephen Ghanie, Executive Manager of Innovation & Strategy, BMC in June 2012. ‘Export abattoirs in Botswana are used by most African countries as benchmark abattoirs, because there are not many that operate at such high standards as ours. In order to regain and maintain the standard of our plants in 2011, the Ministry of Agriculture of Botswana made a decision to voluntarily delist from the EU to rectify issues regarding compliance,” said Ghanie. By taking the time to complete a number of investments, the company has made leaps and bounds in improving animal welfare standards and operational efficiency at their plants, installing new shelters for cattle, economical power generators, and is planning for a more environmentally friendly tannery in addition to developing a
number of its business strategies. “We have identified the weakest links from a strategic point of view that we are now rectifying. It became apparent that the marketing and sales capability was one of the weakest links at BMC after the European export license went down, so we need to improve our marketing strategy and customer base. The second area is livestock throughput, as we are currently running at 60 percent capacity; anywhere else in the world, at this throughput, we would probably be running at a loss,” said Ghanie. In order to develop the company and address these concerns, the BMC has invested in a new Innovation and Strategy Department, which is working on a continuous improvement plan to 5
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Botswana Meat Commission Meat-ing specifications
BMC has allocated a special compliance department address the weakest points of the business. “Where we don’t have the capabilities in house we are outsourcing to those that can, for instance we use an external marketing company which is hitting the ground in Europe. We are putting together a livestock procurement strategy, by which we will be undertaking a lot of extension work for ourselves to ensure that we have a continuous supply of cattle coming to BMC,” said Ghanie. In addition, BMC has allocated a compliance department to ensure it stays on top of changes in export compliance, which links with other stakeholders such as the
Going forward, we want to be the preferred supplier of quality beef and be able to deliver according to our new slogan; ‘On time, in full and to specification’. — Dr Stephen Ghanie Minister for Agriculture, to ensure that communal and smallholding farmers also adhere to the rules. Over the past year BMC has invested in its third plant in Maun, spending $12 million on the refurbishment of the facility. Situated in a foot and mouth disease area, the BMC has motivated for investment in vaccinations by the Ministry of Agriculture to prevent spread of the disease. A slice of the market Through its new marketing strategy, 7
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Botswana Meat Commission Meat-ing specifications
BMC key focus will be developing new client relationships the BMC is currently focused on establishing firm relationships with its trusted customers, taking a new approach to supply which considers the individual demands of the customers it exports to. “When we came out of the European market in 2011 we lost a lot of our market to competitors. In June/July this year we got back into the EU and are building new relationships with customers. Instead of going back to all of our old customers we are also exploring new areas and opportunities in the EU and Norway, which is a very stringent market to get into,” said Ghanie.
We are now focused on building a solid customer base by finding out the needs of customers that is key to the relationships we want to develop as we go forward.” — Dr Stephen Ghanie The company is also looking to gain a market share in the Middle East, following its increased output from the new facilities in Maun, and is expanding the range of products it offers to the African Continent, particularly in the southern countries. Staking a claim In the future, Ghanie hopes to develop the market in Botswana 9
Botswana Meat Commission Meat-ing specifications
to ensure that the agricultural trade continues to be successful, promoting Botswana beef as a top quality product with a reliable supply. “Going forward, we want to be the preferred supplier of quality beef and be able to deliver according to our new slogan; ‘On time, in full and to specification’. Customers really like Botswana beef, it is extremely popular in Europe, simply because of the unique flavour colour of the beef, which they claim to be very different and very useful for their manufacturing purposes. We are also trying to cater to the needs of the customer. “Previously, the BMC produced to stock and hoped that somebody 10
would buy, but now we listen to our customers more, understandwhat they will need in a year’s time, in six months and three months, and to identify and source those cattle and to certify their exact requirements. We are now focused on building a solid customer base by finding out the needs of customers - that is key to the relationships we want to develop as we go forward,” he said. Ghanie is very upbeat about the future at BMC, and believes the company is well-placed to gain a secure and successful market share in the next few years. For Ghanie, it is important he and his new department continue to keep the interests of the Botswana farmers at heart and remain innovators in their field.
STATISTICS
Industry: Slaughtering, cutting, marketing and exporting of beef Founded: 1965 “We are putting in place strategies to get hold of the market that we need to generate value for our product and move on from selling commodities to selling value-added products which transform the beef business in Botswana for the benefit of communal famers. We believe that we need to play a transformative role in the development of the industry and make Botswana farmers’ equal and significant participants in the global supply of beef. We are a small country with a small population of two and half million citizens, and working with an equally small beef cattle population, we need to make this transformation a success story,” he said.
Headquarters: Lobatse, Botswana Key People/Titles: Dr Stephen Ghanie, Executive Manager of Innovation and Strategy at BMC Products: Cuts of beef, canned products Revenue: P1.1 billion Botswana Pula Employees: 1,300 Website:
www.bmc.bw
Visit us online:
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Botswana Meat Commission Head Office Private Bag 4, Lobatse, Botswana Tel: (267) 534 0000 Fax: (267) 533 2504 marketing@bmc.bw www.bmc.bw
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