Belarus reveals marbled beef ambitions

In a recent interview, the country’s President Alezander Lukashenko said he wanted Belarus to compete on the global beef market with countries such as Japan, the USA, Canada, Germany and Australia. He added that the state was establishing separate processing facilities to ensure the beef would be produced, packed and sold to European standards.

“Marbled meat should be produced... Together we will find markets and sell it there,”​ he said. “Today there is a huge demand for these products in Russia and we currently don’t use a huge amount of our agricultural land, so we should do this.”​

According to reports from Belarus’ Ministry of Agriculture, the country has already started purchasing livestock for marbled meat production, with elite stock being bred “on dozens of farms around the country”.​

The country’s acting Minister of Agriculture and Food Leonid Marinich said all the livestock would be imported from countries in the European Union. “Under veterinary rules, only Lithuania and Hungary have the right to import cattle into the territory of Belarus, so the proposals of other countries to supply were not accepted. We cannot risk our reputation in the world market.”​

The country is currently updating its production chain and modernising its processing facilities – work that is expected to take until the end of the year. “In each area, one meat processing plant has been chosen to cut and supply the [marbled] meat to shops throughout the country,”​ added Marinich,

In 2012 Belarus will produce 4,500 tonnes (t) of marble meat, but in 2013 this figure is expected to grow to about 20,000t. According to a source in the Ministry of Agriculture, the long-term goal is to increase production to 100,000t of marble meat per year.

Lukashenko said he wanted to marbled beef to become the “normal​” meat for Belarusians, with the surplus exported to Russia, where there is a “huge demand”​ for such products.

However, experts have warned that the cost of marbled meat might be outside the reach of the large majority of Belarusian citizens, with prices currently at US$500/kg, and BYR1m (US$118) for an average marbled steak (220g). Additionally, experts said many Belarusians have never heard of marbled beef, and are skeptical about its quality.

“Up to this point, many Belarusians never heard about marbled meat. Some have even decided it is a meat made of stone,”​ said analysts.

As a result, experts predict that the marbled beef industry will be almost entirely export-oriented, with exports aimed primarily at Russia and other CIS countries, with some possibly going to the EU.