Jet Fresh Cargo, in partnership with Pearl Meat Industries Limited (PMIL), a pioneering company incorporated in Uganda and engaged in the business of livestock products, on Monday, 4th November, successfully exported 5,000 kilograms of beef, goat meat, and mutton to Saudi Arabia via Qatar Airways.
This milestone marks the first time in 25 years that Uganda has exported beef to Saudi Arabia.
During the dispatch ceremony at the cargo station, at Entebbe International Airport, Justus Karuhanga, the director of Pearl Meat Industries, expressed excitement about dispatching the first shipment of beef from Uganda to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after 25 years.
“We are proud that Pearl Meat Industries is the first factory in Uganda certified for this purpose. The company has overcome significant hurdles to achieve this feat,” he said.
In addition, Karuhanga noted that the ban that has been subsisting for 25 years for beef and mutton from Uganda is mainly because no certified factory could meet the standards.
“We shall be having a weekly shipment to Saudi Arabia, and we are optimistic that the market will continue growing. Pearl Meat Industries is also exploring other markets in the Middle East; on Saturday, we are sending another batch to Kuwait, and we have also been sending to Bahrain and Egypt,” he explained.
Karuhanga, however, urged farmers to start feed lotting because it standardizes and provides quality beef for export to overcome the challenges of finding quality bulls for export to meet the competition with other countries.
The managing director of Pearl Meat Industries, Idris Ali Elgadhi, also expressed hopes for daily shipments to this new market on board, based on the fact that Uganda’s meat is of a high quality as compared to other countries.
Wail Dagash, the CEO of Jet Fresh Cargo, which handles transportation for Pearl Meat Industries, explained that during the transportation to the market, the product is kept well by the use of dry ice to ensure that it remains at the right temperature.
The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority’s spokesperson, Vianney Luggya, congratulated stakeholders upon this achievement, saying, “This is a great opportunity for Ugandan farmers and the country at large because, with weekly shipments to Saudi Arabia, Pearl Meat Industries is paving the way for Uganda’s beef export industry as well as the economy in terms of an increase in revenue.”
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