Ostrich producers eager to satisfy European appetites

Date: 31/10/1996

CONFIDENCE in meat may be at a low ebb following a number of recent food scares, but Europe's ostrich farmers are not burying their heads in the sand.

Although still in its infancy, the European Ostrich Association (EOA) is optimistic about its prospects of making serious inroads into the luxury end of the EU's food market.

Its second world congress, which takes place in the Dutch town of Hengelo on 14-15 November, will bring together an array of experts from all over the world determined to secure ostrich meat a place on the dinner tables of Europe.

The EOA, which was set up in 1993, believes there are already as many as 5,000 ostrich farmers in Europe, ranging from those who keep three or four birds as a sideline to farms with more than 1,000 animals.

Vice-chairman Fred van der Horst stresses his industry will continue to target the top end of the market and the restaurant trade, pointing to growing demand in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Clearly, the association sees consumer concern in the wake of the beef crisis as a major opportunity for its members. But Van Der Horst says interest was already high before the latest outbreak of BSE hysteria.

The United States was the first to jump on the bandwagon which first began rolling in South Africa more than 100 years ago.

Initial success was followed by a slump, caused partly by a collapse in the market for ostrich feathers. But a relaunch of the industry in the US encouraged interest from Europe, with the Netherlands and UK leading the way.

Most European countries have now joined in, with ostriches apparently happy to live in virtually any climate.

In the short-term, the EOA believes there is a pressing need to deepen research into farming methods, not least to ensure adequate welfare provisions. An initial research project in the Netherlands, the first EU country to try its hand seriously at ostrich production, is now nearing completion. Each of the EOA's member associations, stretching from Norway to Slovenia, is now planning ahead to ensure that supplies are kept at constant levels without undermining what have been very pleasing profit margins.

Slaughterhouses also have to be educated to ensure not only that ostriches are killed in an ethically-acceptable way, but also that the meat is presented in a form the customers want.

But top of the agenda are efforts to agree on welfare legislation. Supported by the Commission, draft EU-wide rules are being prepared. In the longer term, however, the EOA would prefer the rules to reflect various production methods in different parts of the Union.

“Some people claim ours is like the poultry business, but it is not. Poultry farms are intensive, ostrich farms are extensive,” stresses Van Der Horst.

Efforts are now being made to improve breeding to produce better leather, which provides 50&percent; of the value of every bird.

But not everything in the sector is rosy. Several British investors who put their money into ostrich production discovered their investments were contrary to the terms of the Financial Services Act.