Norwegian makes burger patties from Swazi beef

This was revealed by Norwegian Independent Meat and Poultry Association Chairman of the Board Noralf Espeland during a prize presentation of Swaziland Meat Industry (SMI) ‘sell an animal’ competition yesterday.

Espeland said there was a lot of demand for local beef which he stated was nice and very tasty.

Illustrating, Espeland said: "I make hamburgers from some of your meat because the taste of the beef is very good."

In an interview after the presentation, he pointed out that the burgers were mostly sold to students in a university city. He added that the city accommodated approximately 10 000 students.

He said his association had about 6 000 members while the private sector had around 5 000 members. Earlier, Espeland said after touring the SMI factory and some cattle farms, he saw the reason why local beef was good.

"After visiting the farms, I realised that you breed your cattle well and the infrastructure is good," he told farmers, attending the event.

He challenged them to look after their animals well so that they could earn more from their animals, adding that farmers were not well remunerated.

One of the farmers, Hezekial Mkhatshwa in a separate interview, said even though they were happy about what they got from SMI, they would appreciate that prices should be marketed related. For a cow which is at prime, he said they were paid approximately E9 per kilogram while the old cows fetch around E8.50 per kilogram. 

In response, SMI Managing Director (MD) Jon Williams pointed out that they started exporting to Norway this year.

He mentioned that the country has been all along been exporting to the United Kingdom, Denmark, and the Reunion Islands to name a few.

Echoing Espeland, the MD said it was for the same reasons that their operations were of great quality and making hygiene a top priority.

"We do this so that our overseas and local markets accept our meat," Williams said.

Williams then congratulated the winners of the competition which will be held every three months.

The first prize of E6 000 went to Alfred Maseko, and the runner-up Patrick Mkhatshwa took home E2 500 while third placed Mabhamlane Nkomonye was E1 500 richer.

Meanwhile, Hezekiel Mkhats-hwa was presented with a cheque of E1 000 for being the farmer that sold the most cattle to SMI.

In an interview after the draw, Mkhatshwa who hails from Lulakeni revealed that he sold 13 cattle to SMI.

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