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No sheepish approach - VIP Meat serves up local lamb, mutton
Published: Saturday | December 17, 2011 0 Comments
The woman at right prepares to bite into a piece of lamb ham produced by VIP Meats as her friend savours the delicious treat which found favour with all who tasted it during a recent a sampling session.
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Christopher Serju, Gleaner WriterLONGVILLE PARK, Clarendon:WHEN DONNIE Bunting operated what was Jamaica's second-largest aquaculture operation in Longville Park, Clarendon, he put in a few sheep to act as 'lawn mowers' to keep down the grass around the fish ponds. Though still mainly involved in inland fishing, today, he is looking to sheep farming as the possible mainstay of his business operations in the future.
It is a turnaround Bunting could not have anticipated, but when the opportunity presented itself, he grasped it with both hands, and today, VIP Meats is the premier producer of choice lamb cuts and other value-added products.
Bunting's foray into this new venture started about five years ago when the Government brought together a group of farmers who had been growing sheep loosely in a very disorganised way and brought to their attention just how much lamb meat was being imported every year, primarily by the hotel trade. The farmers were advised to form an organisation with the understanding that the Government would provide pure-bred sheep to be used to upgrade the local stock.
Thereafter, the Government brought in a few hundred Doper rams and sold them at very subsidised rates to farmers, who then formed a sheep farmers' association. Bunting served as president for the first year, but after finding that members were pulling in different directions, opted out of the executive to focus more on his sheep business, but retained his membership.
He explained: "Most of them, even though they grew sheep, were not familiar with the meat and were just using it as a goat substitute. So I took a handful of farmers in the association who were entrepreneurs. We have moved forward, so much so that we are now leading the thrust for lamb production in the island."
successful path
The partnership, involving businessmen Don Kelly, Richard Peters and former politician Dr Paul Robertson, has since set the business on a successful path, producing choice meat cuts along with value-added products, lamb sausage, and burgers. All this is done at a processing plant in Longville Park, Clarendon. Much of the enterprise has been guided by the partners' knowledge of the market in which they are operating.
In the first place, it is important to recognise the difference between lamb, which is the meat of the animal up to a year old, while mutton is the meat from the animal over a year old.
"In the world market, lamb is sold in five grades, with prime lamb at the top of the ladder, followed by choice, then good, utility and cull being the bottom grade. The lamb we are producing falls in the second grade - choice," Bunting explained. "Prime lamb is so expensive that you probably wouldn't find a market in Jamaica, but there are hotels like Round Hill, Half Moon and the Ritz-Carlton that will buy the choice lamb," he added.
Bunting pointed out that prime quality is directly related to the genetics of the animal from which it is harvested and is the reason they are not yet producing it.
Added he: "You have to get what you call a terminal-cross animal. You start with one breed, cross that breed with another breed and take the female from that breed and put her with a third breed to give you a terminal cross, prime animals which produce super-size cuts."
This is usually accomplished over at least five generations of breeding, with an emphasis on maintaining the appropriate bloodlines, and Bunting is just one generation away from breeding pure-bred Doper sheep.
In marketing its lamb, which it delivers directly to customers, VIP Meats attaches a 'Tenderness Guaranteed' stamp that it backs based on corn-feeding and the rearing and management system of its herd. Lambs are slaughtered at five months old.
"When people think of lamb, they think of tender meat, and the younger the lamb, the more tender it is because tenderness is directly related to age, but it also depends on the rearing method that you use and the feed, which also influences how fast the animals grow.
"In any system, a five-month old animal would be tender, but where the animals go out on the range, only the five-month animal would likely be so small that it would not be marketable and would probably have to stay out there 10 months to a year to reach a marketable size," Bunting disclosed.
With a flock numbering over 400 sheep, the fish-farmer-turned-sheep farmer is on the way to accessing a major share of this lucrative market.
christopher.serju@gleanerjm.com
Published: Saturday | December 17, 2011 0 Comments
The woman at right prepares to bite into a piece of lamb ham produced by VIP Meats as her friend savours the delicious treat which found favour with all who tasted it during a recent a sampling session.
1 2 >
Christopher Serju, Gleaner WriterLONGVILLE PARK, Clarendon:WHEN DONNIE Bunting operated what was Jamaica's second-largest aquaculture operation in Longville Park, Clarendon, he put in a few sheep to act as 'lawn mowers' to keep down the grass around the fish ponds. Though still mainly involved in inland fishing, today, he is looking to sheep farming as the possible mainstay of his business operations in the future.
It is a turnaround Bunting could not have anticipated, but when the opportunity presented itself, he grasped it with both hands, and today, VIP Meats is the premier producer of choice lamb cuts and other value-added products.
Bunting's foray into this new venture started about five years ago when the Government brought together a group of farmers who had been growing sheep loosely in a very disorganised way and brought to their attention just how much lamb meat was being imported every year, primarily by the hotel trade. The farmers were advised to form an organisation with the understanding that the Government would provide pure-bred sheep to be used to upgrade the local stock.
Thereafter, the Government brought in a few hundred Doper rams and sold them at very subsidised rates to farmers, who then formed a sheep farmers' association. Bunting served as president for the first year, but after finding that members were pulling in different directions, opted out of the executive to focus more on his sheep business, but retained his membership.
He explained: "Most of them, even though they grew sheep, were not familiar with the meat and were just using it as a goat substitute. So I took a handful of farmers in the association who were entrepreneurs. We have moved forward, so much so that we are now leading the thrust for lamb production in the island."
successful path
The partnership, involving businessmen Don Kelly, Richard Peters and former politician Dr Paul Robertson, has since set the business on a successful path, producing choice meat cuts along with value-added products, lamb sausage, and burgers. All this is done at a processing plant in Longville Park, Clarendon. Much of the enterprise has been guided by the partners' knowledge of the market in which they are operating.
In the first place, it is important to recognise the difference between lamb, which is the meat of the animal up to a year old, while mutton is the meat from the animal over a year old.
"In the world market, lamb is sold in five grades, with prime lamb at the top of the ladder, followed by choice, then good, utility and cull being the bottom grade. The lamb we are producing falls in the second grade - choice," Bunting explained. "Prime lamb is so expensive that you probably wouldn't find a market in Jamaica, but there are hotels like Round Hill, Half Moon and the Ritz-Carlton that will buy the choice lamb," he added.
Bunting pointed out that prime quality is directly related to the genetics of the animal from which it is harvested and is the reason they are not yet producing it.
Added he: "You have to get what you call a terminal-cross animal. You start with one breed, cross that breed with another breed and take the female from that breed and put her with a third breed to give you a terminal cross, prime animals which produce super-size cuts."
This is usually accomplished over at least five generations of breeding, with an emphasis on maintaining the appropriate bloodlines, and Bunting is just one generation away from breeding pure-bred Doper sheep.
In marketing its lamb, which it delivers directly to customers, VIP Meats attaches a 'Tenderness Guaranteed' stamp that it backs based on corn-feeding and the rearing and management system of its herd. Lambs are slaughtered at five months old.
"When people think of lamb, they think of tender meat, and the younger the lamb, the more tender it is because tenderness is directly related to age, but it also depends on the rearing method that you use and the feed, which also influences how fast the animals grow.
"In any system, a five-month old animal would be tender, but where the animals go out on the range, only the five-month animal would likely be so small that it would not be marketable and would probably have to stay out there 10 months to a year to reach a marketable size," Bunting disclosed.
With a flock numbering over 400 sheep, the fish-farmer-turned-sheep farmer is on the way to accessing a major share of this lucrative market.
christopher.serju@gleanerjm.com
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