The Sunday News
THE Cold Storage Company (CSC) has been urged to partner local livestock farmers and tap into the readily available beef market in Angola.
Africa Corporate Advisors managing director, Mr Mike Nyamazana, said there was a huge demand for beef in Angola and CSC should seize this opportunity to explore this lucrative market.
“There are opportunities in the beef market in Angola. So CSC and farmers should form joint ventures to supply beef there. However, the concerns that they have is certification.
“They need the products to meet certain international quality standards and CSC has that recognition and what is needed is partnerships with the farmers and penetrate that market,” he said.
Mr Nyamazana said this during a ZimTrade presentation of the Angola market research findings last Friday.
He said exploring the Angolan market was one of the many ways CSC could revive its waning fortunes.
CSC’s director, marketing, Mr Isaiah Machingura, said the company was already planning to penetrate the Angolan market and noted that a delegation from that country’s Angolan veterinary services visited the company to inspect its abattoirs.
“It’s true that there is a huge beef market in Angola and they are interested in our products. The Department of Veterinary Services from Angola came and inspected our abattoirs late last year and was happy with the facilities and is ready to take our products. The missing link is capital on the CSC side . . . We have actually penetrated that market before and Shoprite Supermarket is aware of our products,” said Mr Machingura.
He said through the assistance of Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) the company was looking forward to entering into a joint venture with farmers.
“We have extended an arm through AMA and it has been going around sensitising farmers to come and work with us (CSC) so that we can make joint ventures for the purpose of doing business together,” Mr Machingura said.
“Our abattoirs are still fine and we just need to spruce them up a bit so that they can meet international standards,” he said.
In 2010, the cash-strapped CSC was forced to abandon an ambitious project of supplying goat meat to Angola as farmers expressed dissatisfaction in offering their stock on credit to the company.
CSC intended to collect the goats from farmers and slaughter them before exporting the dressed carcasses to Angola with the farmers getting their payment after the sale.
