Kusto Group’s KazBeef to Receive Prestigious Quality Certificate

Kusto Group’s meat manufacturing entity, KazBeef, has become the first firm in Kazakhstan to achieve the agricultural GLOBALG.A.P. certificate.

Kusto Group’s meat manufacturing company, KazBeef, recently made history, as it became the first Kazakhstani business to receive a GLOBALG.A.P. certificate.

GAP is an acronym for Good Agricultural Practices, and the certificate is the world’s most widespread farm certification scheme.

Holding a GLOBALG.A.P. certificate means that KazBeef lives up to a set of international standards on good aquacultural and agricultural practices as well as livestock.

Such an accomplishment opens doors for KazBeef, as a GLOBALG.A.P. certificate is a prerequisite for starting to cooperate with many Western suppliers.

While businesses in more than 100 countries have the certificate, KazBeef is the first in Kazakhstan to achieve it.

“It is the culmination of an extended process of modernization at KazBeef and Kusto Agro. We are introducing the latest technologies and best practices from around the world. We partnered with global industry leaders,” Daulet Nurzhanov, CEO of Kusto Group’s agricultural entity, Kusto Agro, says.

“We have worked with the Canadian industry leader Feedlot Health Management Services to adopt best in class technology, ensuring future-proofed feed security and developing expertise. And not just for our own purposes, but for Kazakhstan’s cattle industry as a whole. Today, our processes are 98% computerized, allowing for individual animal management and full traceability,” he adds.

“KazBeef, Kusto Agro and Kusto Group strive to be the best”

Daulet Nurzhanov hopes that more of Kusto Agro’s entities will become GLOBALG.A.P. certified in the future.

“Across KazBeef, Kusto Agro and Kusto Group as a whole, we continuously strive to be the best in the business. This is only possible thanks to the hard work of our employees, whose efforts I would like to recognize in achieving this certification,” he states.

KazBeef was the first company to import Hereford and Angus breeding cattle for raising in Kazakhstan. Today, the firm takes up more than 40,000 hectares of land and owns more than 10,000 cattle.

The meat giant is one of the largest producers of marbled beef in Kazakhstan and mainly serves the Middle Eastern market. However, with the new certification at hand, KazBeef aims to expand its operations into Europe and the Gulf states.

Kusto Group and KazBeef are kickstarting that journey in February 2022, when the meat manufacturer participates in the Gulfood Exhibition.

The fair is the biggest annual food and beverage trade show in the world.

KazBeef enters the market in the United Arab Emirates

KazBeef entered the Emirate of Dubai market in April 2021 and aspires to reach the other six emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates soon.

The cooperation with Dubai was established at the Gulfood Exhibition 2021. It was ensured that 1.2 tons of KazBeef meat was distributed to hotels and restaurants in the emirate two months later.

In December 2021, KazBeef had signed a deal worth 500 million Tenge ($1.2 million) for the supply of marbled meat to Wisk Foodstuff Trading. Wisk is one of the key suppliers for hotels and restaurants in the United Arab Emirates.

The agreement was made at the Kazakh Trade and Investment Forum at the Expo 2020 in Dubai.

“The UAE has become our number one economic partner in the region. We have invested more than $4 billion in the Kazakh economy since 1991,” Askar Mamin, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, said at the forum.

“The Persian Gulf, with its growing demand for high-quality food, was the obvious choice for us. This is another step towards making ‘Made in Kazakhstan’ a distinctive mark of quality in the region,” CEO of KazBeef, Beibit Erubaev, added.

Kusto Group’s certificate opens doors for all of Kazakhstan

In order to get a GLOBALG.A.P. certificate, agricultural businesses go through a thorough process.

Every year, agricultural specialists visit candidate companies, where they conduct interviews with the staff and analyze multiple documents.

According to Beibit Erubaev the company was well-prepared for the procedure. He hopes that other Kazakhstani businesses can now follow in Kusto Group and KazBeef’s footsteps.

“Obtaining this certificate opens up new horizons in export - not only for our company but for the whole of Kazakhstan. The distribution of our products to Europe, which we are striving for, will increase interest in other manufacturers in our country,” he says and continues:

“We are not only talking about meat but any other agricultural products. Following our example, other enterprises will be able to pass the certification. This will open up a foreign market for them, where the effective demand is much higher.”

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes