Fresh cuts Uganda Ltd is one of the leading meat processing companies with a wide range of products sold locally and on the international market.
Fresh Cuts offers meat products such as Beef, Goat and Lamb.
According to the company, “Quality standards at the production line are stringent enforced all the way through the value chain and we are proud being the only company certified ISO 22000:2005 in Uganda.”
The company operates under two core brands, “Fresh Cuts” and “Quality Cuts”.
“All pre-packed vacuum sealed meats carry the Fresh Cuts brand and are distributed throughout supermarkets,” the company which was established more than 20 years ago says.
Quality cuts is the butchery and retail chain, which also wholesales meat products for export as well as hotels and restaurants.
In terms of beef, Fresh Cuts says: “Our beef products are hand selected and are known to deliver a clean yet succulent and tender meaty delight. For best results, we use age-old practices to mature the meat and vacuum packaging to ensure the freshness is sealed in.”
Fresh Cuts also provides lamb chops, rack of lamb, leg of lamb, ground lamb, lamb ribs and more processed from Australian grass-fed lamb and domestic lamb.
“Our delicately selected chicken tastes just like chicken is supposed to taste. That is because our poultry enjoy a natural diet, and are allowed to roam freely which gives them a delicious flavour and a well-toned bite,” the company adds.
Amos Tindyebwa, the managing director of Fresh Cuts Uganda told media (marcopolis) they have more than 100 meat products.
“We produce quite a wide range of products. We process a variety of beef related products. We have more than 50 professional beef cuts. We produce about 12 types of sausages from beef to chicken to turkey, spices, mushroom, etc. We have European frankfurters as well,” he said.
“We also do specialties in chicken, fish, turkey. We process any kind of poultry and livestock products. We are the only one stop shop where you can find all manner of quality products in meat, fish, and poultry,” Tindyebwa added.
Statistics indicate that Uganda exports of meat and edible meat offal was $2.23 million during 2020. This is according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade.
Greenlight for UK market
In 2020, Uganda received great news when UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised Ugandan farmers they would have the opportunity to export their beef to the UK. Definitely, Fresh Cuts was one of the top beneficiaries.
Speaking at the UK-Africa Investment Summit 2020, Mr Johnson said: “I have just told President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni that his beef cattle will have an honoured place on the tables of post-Brexit Britain. The United Kingdom is aiming at building a partnership that benefits all African countries,” Johnson said.
The news was welcomed with high gratitude by President Museveni who said: “I am glad that in his speech, the Prime Minister indicated that our products, including Uganda’s beef, would find its way on to the dining tables of post-Brexit Britain.”
“Our position has always been balanced trade that benefits all parties,” the President added. Uganda also got a commitment of beef funding to a tune of £15 million ($19.6 million).
What these developments meant was that the world had trust for Uganda’s beef.
To ensure the standard of meat remains high, the country has put a number policies and regulations in place. UIA notes that, “The livestock sector is governed by several policies and regulations including the national delivery of veterinary services, national veterinary drug policy, national hides, skins and leather policy, animal breeding policy and the animal feeds policy among others.”
Statistics further indicate that livestock production constitutes an important subsector of Uganda’s agriculture, contributing about 9 per cent of Gross Domestic Product and 17 per cent of Agricultural Gross Domestic Product and is a source of livelihood to about 4.5 million people in the country.
“Cattle are the main source of meat in the country and are reared on rangelands which occupy 84,000 km². The greatest concentration of livestock is found in the “cattle corridor”, extending from South-Western to North Eastern Uganda,” UIA states.
The districts in the corridor include Ntungamo, Mbarara, Mpigi, Kiboga, Luwero, Apac, Lira, Soroti, Kumi, Mbale, Moroto, and Kotido. It is in this corridor that most of the beef production is done.
For now, Uganda continues to penetrate more markets in the region, continent, Europe and Middle East in a bid to deliver its natural flavoured, cholesterol-free beef.