The 25th annual Championship Boerewors competition is heating up. The top three finalists in the 2017 Championship Boerewors competition, Queen Mathebule (from Malamulele, Limpopo), James Lebepe (from Atteridgeville, Gauteng) and Moses Mathebule (from Lenyenye, Limpopo) are ready to put their boerewors recipe to the public taste test.
Image credit: Alon Skuy via Times Live
Butchers and suppliers in the meat industry will be interested to note a new trend reported in Bizcommunity.com: “People are deserting retail stores’ butchery aisles, cutting out the middleman and turning to buying meat in bulk. Seemingly, it is proving to be a great saving.”
Read what consumers are saying about the cost of meat and how they are tackling this challenge. It is likely to have a significant impact on meat suppliers and retailers.
From left to right: Tafadzwa, Veli, Maxwell Tshuma from IMQAS – training coordinator, Progress
Three of the Chalmar Beef’s employees were enrolled in the Junior Meat Examiners course with the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) in May. The training will run for 12 months and will be followed by an internal graduation ceremony.
In June, an outbreak of the highly pathogenic Avian influenza H5N8 was confirmed in SA, after it had already wreaked havoc in the poultry industry in Zimbabwe. It has also been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to the FAO, South Africa has so far culled over 800 000 birds, while Zimbabwe puts the figure at approximately 215 000 birds. In these two countries, the disease has mainly been identified on large commercial farms, where systems to monitor outbreaks are readily in place compared to smallholder and backyard producers.
The Competition Commission launched an investigation into the alleged fixing of prices and trading conditions in the meat industry by conducting simultaneous search and seizure operations at 13 premises belonging to seven meat suppliers in three provinces in June. The meat suppliers as well as the Red Meat Producers Organisation (RPO) has confirmed that they are cooperating with the investigation.
In most cases, shrinkage stems from inefficient stock and margin control. Spinnaker Software has developed various features in its Arch Retail System to help prevent shrinkage, and to maximise profits in butchery operations. Some of the most common reasons for shrinkage are:
Not that any South African needs an excuse to have a braai; but what better day to get those coals lit than on National Braai Day? It’s coming up on the on the 24th of September, and GLAD will help the day to run smoothly with a few handy hints.
Chalmar Beef achieved its “Food Safety System Certification” (FSSC 22000) in May 2017, following two rigorous audits conducted by Procert during 2016 and the first quarter of 2017. Led by Lindiwe Mbatha (Technical Manager) and Mieke Evans (Food Safety Team Leader), the food safety team worked hard to obtain the certification. The FSSC 22000 certification provides a framework for effectively managing an organisation’s food safety responsibilities.
Flavour-infused lamb, pork and beef dishes were skilfully prepared and cooked on Chad-O-Chef products by some of South Africa’s leading chefs in the various kitchen zones featuring at The Fire & Feast Butcher’s Festival, presented by Crown National.
“Visitors were treated to interesting yet simple ways to create new recipes using various cuts of lamb, beef and pork – including the increasingly popular offal cuts – all over an open flame,” explained the kitchen zone co-ordinator and renowned South African chef, Arnold Tanzer. “The recipes have been specifically chosen for a range of cooking abilities, all requiring minimal preparation.”
Meet Team 6 Pack, the winning team in the National Butcher’s Challenge presented by Crown National. The winning team members will form part of the squad training for ‘Team South Africa’ working towards representing the country at the World Butcher’s Challenge in Ireland next year.
Team 6 Pack was the winning team in the National
Butcher’s Challenge presented by Crown National.
