Mnela family in the city of Lezhe started a meat selling business 21 years ago. Today, thanks to the support the family has benefited from the government since 2013, their business has become a role model of success regarding high standards in terms of meat production, selling, processing and storage.
Through a financial support from the Agricultural and Rural Development Agency (ARDA), their business has expanded, increasing employment and cooperation with local farmers.
Prime Minister Edi Rama today travelled to Lezhe, where he visited the now modern butchery and meat processing plant, which, in addition to offering fresh and safe products, serves also as an educational venue for the veterinary students from the Agricultural University of Tirana, who carry out the practice program.
Director General of the Agricultural and Rural Development Agency, Frida Krifca noted that with ARDA financial support the entrepreneurs have succeeded in building a modern abattoir meeting highest standards in terms of slaughtering methods, food safety and consumer protection standards. “Business run by Mnela family has been financed by ARDA. It is a financing estimated at a total of EUR 900,000. ARDA has provided around EUR 320,000 in funding over the years to support construction and the slaughtering solutions. The business has employed 23 workers and it runs six meat centres and three storage facilities in Tirana, Elbasan and Kuçove. They have also developed the cattle and pig slaughtering line. The business also owns two stables, one for pig breeding and one for imported live hogs for slaughter and processing. They are making plans to apply for funding under the next call we plan to launch by September of October. We have provided support for development of three more butchery and meat processing plants all over the country and we have received applications for 11 more slaughterhouses,” Krifca said.
Entrepreneur Fatjon Mnela said that thanks to the ARDA support, their once modest business has kept expanding gradually, increasing both production and employment. “In 2014, with ARDA support, we had 18 employees from seven of them who used to work with us previously, while we have now employed 23 people. We used to have a slaughtering capacity of around 20 to 30 animals a day, while the today’s capacity is 36 pigs per hour, 60 to 70 ruminants and 20 cattle. We expect to receive another support in September so that we can improve the cattle slaughtering line so that we can boost production capacity and create more jobs.”
The entrepreneur said that their business has also favoured local farmers, with whom they cooperate very closely, accepting supply from them or offering them to slaughter livestock according to all required standards.
Visiting the slaughterhouse and meat processing plant premises, which strictly observes food safety rules, PM Rama said that increasing number of businesses that meet such high standards would encourage also meat export. “I can say that Several countries like Romania, Bulgaria or Croatia have gone through a very difficult process to earn the right to export, not because there were no such slaughterhouses there, but because that animals were also slaughtered on the streets and this is the reason why we have curbed, yet not enough, the slaughtering and meat selling methods that fail to meet required standards. The situation used to be scandalous. There are still sporadic cases of animal slaughtering illegally, although significantly curbed and this will make that number of such abattoirs to grow, the volume of work, formal employment and food safety,” the Premier concluded.
