Published December 07, 2010 14:10
Meatco Namibia under the representation of its Group Quality Assurances Manager, Ms. Rosa Katjivena was amongst close to 500 delegates from more than 50 countries gathered for the 2010 GlobalGAP summit. The summit was held at London’s Hilton Metropole Hotel, from the 7th to 8th October 2010.
GlobalGAP is a private sector body that sets voluntary standards for the certification of production processes of agricultural (including aquaculture) products around the globe.
The GlobalGAP standard is primarily designed to reassure consumers about how food is produced on the farm by minimizing detrimental environmental impacts of farming operations, reducing the use of chemical inputs and ensuring a responsible approach to worker health and safety as well as animal welfare.
GlobalGAP serves as a practical manual for Good Agricultural Practice (G.A.P.) anywhere in the world. The basis is an equal partnership of agricultural producers and retailers who wish to establish efficient certification standards and procedures.
According to Ms. Rosa Katjivena, “it matters a lot for an organization such as Meatco to associate itself with certain markets as well as good ethical practices”. This way our brand is trusted and our products seen as good as those produced by developed countries, enabling Meatco to enter niche markets.
“This was a big thing for Meatco, being a company from an African country, it was a great honor to be present and presenting at the same summit where other internationally recognized bodies were present”, she added.
Rosa Katjivena was on a discussion panel, which consisted of Europe’s leading industry players like, ASDA (Walmart), MacDonald’s, Migros (Switzerland) as well as Vion Food (Germany) just to mention a few. The retail industry delegates shared their experiences and also discussed the challenges of working in the expanding global beef industry. The Meatco stand showed a video documentary titled the “Secret Namibia” and a strong message to Discover Namibian Beef with the “experience something unique” slogan on display.
Meatco CEO, Kobus du Plessis said that the “The presentation sparked a lot of positive comments from the audience and panelists ranging from the high standard of Namibian Veterinary control systems to the fact that Meatco can definitely be in line with European standards”. According to du Plessis, an audit was also done that indicated that Meatco complies with GlobalGAP standards.
At the same occasion, ASDA also gave extremely good feedback on Meatco and made an announcement that they (ASDA) has chosen Meatco as company to engage in business in future.
Meatco's Group Quality Assurance Manager, Ms. Rosa Katjivena, represented Meatco at the 2010 GlobalGAP summit in London.