First rabbit meat distribution facility opens in Harare

DIVERSIFIED concern, Raymeg Consultants Private Limited (Raymeg) has opened a multi-million-dollar supermarket and distribution hub for rabbit meat in Harare, making it the country’s first such facility.

This comes shortly after Raymeg opened Zimbabwe’s first Rabbit Grill and Chillspot, also in Harare, two weeks ago, as the demand for rabbit meat is on the rise.

Raymeg owns Zimbabwe’s only rabbit abattoir and one of the biggest in Africa. The abattoir, built to export specification, has the capacity to process about three tonnes of rabbit meat per eight-hour day shift.

“Opening of the multi-million-dollar rabbit meat distribution centre in Harare is part of our promise to invest in the growth and development of the rabbit industry in Zimbabwe. The journey that we started about two years ago is now gathering momentum. Our quest is to ensure that we bring rabbit meat to every home in Zimbabwe,” Raymeg executive director Paidamoyo Nyamakanga said.

Raymeg has interests in strategic communication, agriculture, retail sector and real estate. It has operational hubs in Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe. It also runs projects in the Horn of Africa region.

Nyamakanga said the Raymeg Rabbit Meat Hub would be distributing meat to supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and eateries in various parts of the country. It will also serve the export market.

The facility employs nearly 50 people, mostly youth and women from some of Harare’s biggest suburbs of Waterfalls and Hatfield.

“Our passion as an organisation is to improve the livelihoods of our own people through the creation of much needed jobs,” Nyamakanga said.

In addition, Raymeg signed trade agreements with some of the country’s leading supermarket chains, namely Spar Zimbabwe, OK Zimbabwe, Choppies Zimbabwe and Pick ‘n Pay to sell veterinary-inspected rabbit meat in their stores, creating the much-needed market for rabbit meat.

Raymeg is a corporate member of the Zimbabwe Commercial Rabbit Breeders Association (Zicorba). Formed in July 2020 by a group of rabbit farmers, Zicorba is the only collective voice of rabbit farmers in the country.

The association has struck strategic partnerships with a number of rabbit farmers’ associations in Africa, including Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Uganda.

In its first year of existence, Zicorba wooed local businesspersons to invest in what was previously a neglected subsector.

This has turned rabbit farming into one of the most coveted and burgeoning enterprises in Zimbabwe.-newsday