Coming soon: Exclusive abattoir for Wagyu cattle

A Namibian abattoir that specialises in slaughtering Wagyu cattle as well as small livestock for premium markets will soon open its doors in Rehoboth.

While the C-class abattoir is already in operation, it is now getting its groundwork right to be converted into a B-class abattoir by the end of November, so that it can export to SADC countries.

Namibia currently has 16 Wagyu breeders, which is not enough for the abattoir to slaughter at full capacity.

Sarel du Toit, a Wagyu breeder from Dordabis and chairman of the board of the DAS group of companies, who is driving the initiative along with CEO Jaco Smit, explained that the upgrading of the existing facility is underway, but will not interrupt production for longer than three days.

"Our next objective is to be a A-class abattoir by the end of April next year. Then it will have processing and deboning facilities as well as packaging facilities. This initiative will be controlled and managed by the Desert Wagyu company, which belongs to Wagyu breeders and will be managed by Barrie de Beer.

"We hope to be in a position to obtain a quota or access to the European Union as well as Scandinavian countries by the end of next year."

Marbling is everything

Du Toit said the decision to set up an abattoir for the breed was born from the unique requirements for the processing and grading of Wagyu carcasses - something for which existing abattoirs could not really create space and time.

In addition, a separate abattoir means Wagyu producers will now be paid according to marbling for their highly sought-after product, and not as with other abattoirs - a given price for animals classified as an A, B or C-class.

“The better the marbling score, the better the price will be. Here, the producer is paid for the quality he delivers."

Worldwide, Wagyu meat is considered a sought-after, high-quality niche product and the demand far exceeds the supply. There is also a global shift in consumer preference from quantity to quality.

“Namibia actually already has an oversupply of slaughter capacity. Building another new slaughter plant and creating new slaughter capacity is a waste. That's why we decided to buy an existing slaughterhouse and decided on Rehoboth," he said.

"We are looking at a capacity of at least 14 000 cattle per year and between 30 000 and 40 000 sheep per year.”

Premium markets

Du Toit said they are going to target high value, premium markets with the abattoir.

"We envision an export facility and will only operate in the 'upper part' of the market. We do not want to compete commercially or on a large scale with, for example, Meatco or Beefcor. We aim for the niche market.

"Next year, we expect to have around 500 Wagyus to slaughter - mostly from only four breeders.

"This is not even 5% of the abattoir's capacity. We are going to make up the capacity by slaughtering for other slaughterhouses like Hartlief.

He added that the plant can encourage more producers to start farming with Wagyu cattle, as they are assured of an outlet and have a choice whether they want to invest in an ox or weaner production system.

Producers will have two options for sales - delivering a slaughter-ready cow to the abattoir, or supplying them with weanling calves, he said.

"We are going to establish a feedlot at the abattoir. It will serve as a transit facility for cattle going out to South Africa, as well as to supply slaughter animals to our own plant.”