The Meat Board, in cooperation with the export abattoirs, is currently running a lamb promotion campaign in South Africa. As part of this, the Meat Board also identified an event in Namibia to offer something in return to our farming community that is mainly responsible for our sheep exports. The Winter Expo that was held at Helmeringhausen (Northern Namibia) on the 1 August 2007, was identified for this event. Louise Liebenberg (PRO - Meat Board) explained to them briefly what the Meat Board were doing with the product in South Africa, and Antoinette de Chavonnes Vrugt from Gourmet Caterers showed the ladies how to serve lamb in the best possible way. During the session she gave cooking hints to the ladies, who enjoyed it enormously. After the cooking session the ladies could partake of the tasty bites that were served. Approximately 40 ladies attended the session. We were privileged to be able to pay them a quick visit.

The Meat Board in cooperation with the small stock export abattoirs participated in the Food and Wine Festival, which was presented at the Gallaghar Estates, Midrand, Johannesburg. The principal aim of the participation was to promote the outstanding quality of lamb in Namibia. The Meat Board is currently launching a huge lamb promotion campaign in South Africa to make the consumer aware of the qualities of the product. Approximately 35 000 visitors attended the exhibition. During the first two days mostly businessmen and women turned up, while families made up the majority of the visitors on the last two days. The interaction and contact between the public/visitors and the exhibitors were outstanding. The public were most interested in Namibian lamb and wanted to know why it was better than South African lamb and why it should be the preferred meat to buy. Good relationships were built with possible consumers of the product, because they could physically taste and experience it. Many owners of restaurants and small enterprises enquired about the distributors of Namibian lamb, asking where they could obtain it, because they wanted to offer their clients the best quality. The campaign proved to be a huge success. Antoinette de Chavonnes-Vrugt and Nana Lewins of Gourmet Caterers who prepared the tasty bites could join up with top chef Jenny Morris who was also present at the exhibition. Everybody asked the chefs for recipes because of the excellent preparation of the lamb. The Meat Board is considering the publication of a recipe book with traditional lamb recipes somewhere in the future. Together with the tasting excperience of Namibian lamb a number of value-added products were also exhibited for the public to see what is available. These products were provided by Just Lamb/Namco and will soon be seen on Checkers shelves, marked as coming from Namibia. The Meat Board would like to thank the following sponsors: Easy Life Kitchens for a kitchen, Gourmet Caterers for their excellent food preparation, inputs and selfless contributions, and Namco/Just Lamb who sponsored the meat for the exhibition and the tasting experiences. Without them the promotion of Namibian lamb at Gallagher Estates would not have been possible. The Meat Board appreciates their contribution. The Meat Board does not forget its producers. It is due to them that Namibia can deliver a good product for the consumer's table. Thank you for your enthusiasm and passion for the sheep industry. This made the promotion campaign in South Africa a huge success. (updated June 2007)