Ostriswell Abattoir

The new export quality ostrich and lamb abattoir at Swellendam have just recently been approved by the European Union for full-scale ostrich exports. After the commissioning of the abattoir earlier this year in May for training and experimental slaughtering, the ostrich and lamb slaughtered there were only available to South African buyers.

According to the Executive General Manager of the Group, Kobus Goosen, the approval of the export status of the Ostriswell abattoir is very good news. “The export markets of KLEIN KAROO currently need as much ostrich leather, feathers and meat as possible. This approval enables us to not only slaughter the limited amounts of ostriches we had done up to now, but to utilise the abattoir to its full capacity,” he said.

Ostriswell is a modern abattoir purposefully constructed for the slaughtering of ostrich and lamb. The modern overnight facilities have enormous benefits for the prevention of contagion and the transfer of diseases. The plant was developed to adhere to all bulk as well as retail packaging needs, and is already been used for the processing of lamb.

New employees were trained intensively in slaughter line and deboning processes by the KLEIN KAROO Karoo Group as well as the Red Meat Society of South Africa.

According to Kobus all went well with the first slaughterings. “Producers of this region, which includes Heidelberg, Swellendam, Bredasdorp, Riversdale, Worcester, Robertson, and Suurbraak can now do future bookings for slaughtering with great peace of mind,” he said.