The Abattoir
At every stage of the process quality control is of the utmost importance.
Our abattoir is used for the slaughter of cattle from our Heidelberg farm and is one of the most modern facilities of it's kind found anywhere in Africa. With a capacity to process up to 1 800 head of cattle every day, we make use of the very best equipment and technology throughout the slaughter process.
At Karan Beef we believe in humane slaughtering practices and have put in place systems which make sure that these are maintained and controlled and that subsequent processes comply with the strictest health standards. This allows us to meet the demanding food safety expectations of our sophisticated client base.
To this end, we carry out ongoing health and quality inspections with absolutely no tolerance for sub-standard hygiene practices of any kind. And, as a result of our strict application of these quality controls, we are able to minimise the risk of bacterial contamination throughout our abattoir.
We have sub-divided our Balfour facility into four main areas - the Slaughter Floor, the De-boning Plant, our Meat Processing Plant and a By-products Plant.
On the Slaughter Floor we process carcases for direct sale to our clients. Of course, given our desire to make the most efficient use of each and every animal we slaughter, we also process Red and Rough Offal for sale as basic foodstuffs throughout Southern Africa as well as producing a range of Value-Added Offal products such as Tripe, Liver & Sweet Meats.
In fact, the entire animal is utilised in one way or another - from the hides, which are sold internationally for use in the manufacture of top quality leather car seats, to blood meal, carcase meal and tallow which are produced in our By-products Plant and used in pharmaceutical products, low cost foodstuffs and additives for pet foods.
Making use of a powerful networked database we are able to track slaughtered animals all the way back from the Abattoir to their farm of origin - thus providing our breeders with valuable information about the quality of their cattle.
Because of the export status that we enjoy at Karan Beef, all health inspection during the slaughter process is carried out by the meat inspection division of the South African Department of Agriculture. All grading and classification at our Abattoir is carried out by IMQAS.
Every carcase is electrically stimulated, steam vacuumed and pH monitored in order to enhance the overall quality of our beef. Once the cattle are slaughtered and dressed a certain percentage are sold as 'swinging carcases' and the balance are moved through to our De-boning Plant and Meat Processing Facility where we add value, creating our many different high quality beef products.
