Millions spent to import chicken

By SHIRLEY MAULUDU
TWO hundred million is spent annually to import chicken, a locally-owned poultry business says.
Mandekem Ltd managing director Timothy Numilengi said this clearly showed that there was huge market demand for the product in the country.
“The import bill for uncooked chicken meat is about K200 million every year,” he told The National.
“Our two major suppliers in the country cannot meet that demand.
“Especially when you look at the mining sites, they consume a lot of meat products.
“They sometimes get their supplies from outside, not from the domestic market.”
Numilengi said this prompted him to venture into the poultry business.
“That was when we became interested in the chicken business because we saw that the market was already there domestically.”
He said the company aimed to reduce the dependence on imports which was one of the Government’s goals.
“Currently, when you look at the import bill of K200 million, it’s money going out of the country and we are creating jobs for foreigners and the Government is losing out on tax revenue,” he said.
Numilengi said Mandekem started out supplying Niugini Tablebirds six years ago but eventually built its own slaughter house, processing plant and cold storage facility to produce its own brand of chicken products.
He added that the company also bought chickens from local farmers.