Butchery Business- What you should know before investing in this business. 

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Budget: Ksh.30, 000 -Kshs. 100, 000

Meat is a popular food item in majority of Kenyan households. Almost every Kenyan household has meat as part of the diet, either as fried meat, boiled or roasted meat, commonly known as nyamachoma. To make matters even better, international visitors have fallen in love with the Kenyan way of cooking meat. So, why not set up a butchery business and have a share of the revenue? We will give you useful tips on how to make your butchery venture successful. We will focus on beef and mutton which is the most common among Kenyan households.

Location of the Butchery Business

Ideally, a butchery business should be located in highly populated and busy areas. The place should be easily accessible to walk-in customers as well as drive-in customers. Where drive-in customers comprise a high percentage of your customers, ensure you have ample and secure parking space. During busy days like on Sundays or holidays, you may hire a parking guard to control and direct clients looking for space.

An ideal location is an area around market areas, supermarkets and residential areas that experience high human traffic. Once you get a good location, you should be ready to incur costs for renting a space, renovating and branding the place according to your preferences.

Necessary equipment for the business

For a butchery business to be operational, there are some equipment that are essential. They include:

•  Weighing scale – Currently, most butchery business owners prefer the digital scale which allows customers to purchase meat depending on the amount that they have rather than specific buying units. If the startup capital is limiting, you can start with the manual weighing scale which a bit cheaper. A digital weighing scale costs Kshs. 15, 000 to Kshs. 30,000 while a manual scale costs roughly Kshs.5000.
• Visible display counter – The counter will allow customers to view the meat from a distance. Therefore, the display should be visible and attractive to customers. You can get them from Juakali artisans near your location.
• Freezer/ Refrigerator – The freezer will help you store meat overnight or when you have a large stock. Though not a priority when starting up, it will help keep the meat fresh and reduce wastage due to staleness.
• Chopping board, Knives, Panga, Wrapping materials, White coat, Cleaning materials etc. – These items are a must have for proper operation of the butchery. You should also budget for cleaning materials to ensure the workplace is always clean.

About meat supply

Most butcheries source their meat from private and public slaughterhouses near where the business is located. City market, Dagoreti and Kajiado are examples of well-known slaughterhouses in Nairobi. Other towns outside Nairobi have slaughterhouses where cows and goats are slaughtered and delivered in pickups and motorbikes to butcheries.

Before deliveries are made to individual butcheries, the meat is first checked and stamped by qualified meat specialists. This is to confirm if the meat is safe for human consumption to avert incidences of diseases and even death.

Depending on the type of meat, season and location of the slaughterhouse, a kilo of beef ranges from Kshs.280 to Kshs.320 while goat meat is priced at Kshs.320 per kilo. Where the butchery has its own slaughterhouse, the cost of meat supplied maybe lower.

As the owner, you may decide to sell your meat as raw, roasted meat or boiled. Cooked meat tends to sell more when combined with other accompaniments such as ugali, chapati or matoke.

Pricing meat for sale

To get pricing estimates for your butchery, visit butcheries around the place you are interested in setting up a butchery business. This will ensure your price is not too high or too low but within the market value. In Nakuru, a kilo of beef retails from Kshs.360- Kshs.400 while goat meat rages from Ksh.400- Kshs.440. If you sell cooked meat whether, boiled, fried or roasted meat, you will make more profits when served with ugali, rice, chapatis or boiled potatoes. In most cases, most butcheries sell the meat in smaller portions of ¼, ½ or ¾.

Licenses

• County Business Permit 
  Its mandatory for all commercial businesses to obtain business permits from county authorities where they operate. Depending on the county and location within a county, be ready to pay between Kshs. 5000 to Kshs. 20, 000 annually. The permit legalizes the business venture to operate within the county boundaries.
• Food and Hygiene license
  All business that deal with human food are required to have a food and hygiene license from their respective county governments. The license is obtained from the Public Health department in the county level. An inspection may be carried out at the business premises before the license is approved.

Conclusion:

The food industry in Kenya has attracted a lot of investors and the butchery business is not an exemption. To survive the competition, you should be honest and friendly to the customers and staff. Cleanliness in and around the business premises should be top-notch to guarantee customers proper hygiene. You should also source meat from reliable suppliers who will sell you genuine meat and make timely deliveries. Selling well-cooked food, whether ‘nyamachoma’, boiled or fried meat, will give you a competitive advantage over other competitors. If the customers are happy with the service and business environment, then they will keep coming back and also refer their peers to your meat den. With that information, you are now ready to crack a butchery business!!!