The President of the Government opened today a new slaughterhouse on Faial Island, an investment over five million Euros that falls within the strategy to strengthen Azorean agriculture and the competitiveness of the meat sector.
 
"This new Faial slaughterhouse is an example of another tool at the service of Faial and the Regional economy in the context of what I consider to be a structural work under way in the regional meat sector," said Vasco Cordeiro.
 
At the beginning of the Government's working visit to the island, the President of the Government pointed out that this strategy has produced concrete and objective results over time, allowing the meat sector to become, on its own merit, an important economic activity in the Azores.
 
"It is enough to mention that, for example, the local consumption of beef increased 19% in the Region in the last ten years and the export of carcasses grew to a staggering 352%. If take into account the first nine months of this year in comparison with the same period in 2017, the growth of cattle slaughtered for local consumption was at 1.9% and 19.5% for export," said the President of the Government.
 
These good indicators do not mean that everything is done in this area. Vasco Cordeiro noted that is important to be aware that this path will never be complete "because we have important challenges in this area to which we must respond. This is the case of the improvement of the finishing phases of carcasses, the added-value processing of carcasses and the search for new markets that value our production, which will generate more income from this activity.
 
In his speech, the President of the Government also announced that the expansion works of slaughterhouse on Terceira, estimated at 1.6 million Euros, will be opened in the near future. He also mentioned the ongoing construction of the new slaughterhouse on Graciosa and the redevelopment of the slaughterhouse on São Miguel, in addition to other investments planned for other islands, such as São Jorge.
 
"The investment in new slaughterhouses or the redevelopment of existing ones represents an overall amount of 15 million Euros. It will create the conditions to boost the marketing of meat and, ultimately, ensure sustainability and reinforce the competitiveness of regional meat production," stated Vasco Cordeiro.
 
The President of the Government also announced that the certification of slaughterhouses and cutting plants with the ISSO 22000 standard is under way and is expected to be concluded in this term. This process will confer greater competitive advantage to the Azores meat in external markets.
 
"The commitment to improving the quality of meat produced in the Region has had very satisfactory and important practical effects, starting from the growing appreciation of regional meat, which has benefited the Azorean economy and producers," said the government official.
 
According to data from regional market operators, the price of beef has already increased 10 to 15 cents per kilo this year, while the prices of veal meat and bullock meat increased 15 to 20 cent per kilo and around 20 cents per kilo, respectively.
 
The new building includes, besides the slaughterhouse, a specific area for the Milk Classification service and another for the installation of the IAMA - Institute of Food and Agricultural Markets office on the island of Faial.
 
The new slaughterhouse has all the conditions to fully comply with the legally imposed health, hygiene and environmental requirements, thus safeguarding the quality of meat and the health of consumers.
 
Moreover, it also includes an industrial waste water treatment plant, a preparation and packaging unit for meat by-products and spoils produced during the slaughter process, and a preparation and cutting unit.
 
It consists of a slaughterhouse with an installed capacity for 15 to 20 bovine animals/hour and 40 hog/hour and a lairage with capacity for 37 bovine animals in individual stalls as well as for 56 hogs or 14 bovine animals or 66 sheep/goats in collective stalls. The facilities also include a cold storage unit with cooling capacity for 145 carcasses and three chambers for carcass cooling and preservation, in addition to a cutting room with capacity for 10 bovine carcasses/day or 20 hog carcasses/day.