Specialist product walks, doesn't fly, onto the market

Pierogi stuffed with ostrich meat aren't a big hit in Poland. At least not yet. But the country's growing ranks of ostrich breeders are confident that meat from the flightless bird will soon find its way into more supermarkets, restaurants and dinner tables once the first troop of domestically reared birds reaches maturity, and is slaughtered, this fall. The migration into niche products is one way for producers in the troubled agriculture sector to earn a living, farmers said. Ostrich meat, increasingly popular in Western markets as a healthier alternative to beef, is one of the quickest developing niche agricultural industries in the country, according to food sector analysts. "It's really a dynamically developing industry in Poland, especially in the past two to three years," said Robert Przytuła, a food analyst at Biuro Maklerskie Banku Gospodarki Żywnościowej (BMBGŻ). "And they are being bred for the domestic market. The problem is that there isn't really any infrastructure (for trade)." Przytuła said that the biggest barrier to trade is the lack of slaughterhouses licensed to process the meat. Other problems include the absence of a regular supply chain linking farmers with wholesalers, hypermarkets and restaurants. Until that network is established, marketing the meat will be difficult and the industry will be limited to trading in ostrich eggs and nestlings, sector professionals said. There are signs of progress, though. Last week the first licensed trial slaughtering of ostriches was held at a pork processing plant in the Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodship. Jarosław Zieliński, the president of the National Ostrich Farmers Association, said the abattoir in northeast Poland is the only one in the country that has a license to process ostrich meat. He predicts that soon other slaughterhouses will also try to obtain licenses. "We have been working for the last six months to start up an official abattoir and this one has been completely successful," Zieliński said. "It was supervised by all the official authorities and academic specialists. The problem is that the north of Poland is void of ostrich farming and we wanted to avoid the transportation problem." Up to 500-600 farms have adapted their facilities to ostrich breeding during the past 10 years, meaning there are now 4,500-5,000 ostriches in the country, according to the Polish Association of Ostrich Breeders (PZHS). "But we are in the birth season so the numbers are no doubt rising all the time," said Tomasz Rogalski, a board member of PZHS. "Most of the farms are near the biggest cities, with the majority in the Łódzkie voivodship and then the Mazowieckie voivodship."

Finding a niche Food analysts and agriculture professionals agreed that niche farming sectors like ostrich breeding could have a positive economic effect on the agricultural community. "It's the direction to go because most three-hectare farms are not able to compete with intensive farms, and more and more farmers are going into specialized farming, with milk and meat specialization among the most popular," BMBGŻ's Przytuła said. "But this is a brand new and exotic niche, while also a tourist attraction." The next hurdle for ostrich farmers will be to market their product, although most industry insiders expect the first batch of ostrich meat to find its way onto supermarket shelves by the end of year. "I think that by end of this year we will see the first set of birds produced for slaughter and we will see the beginning of regular ostrich meat production," said Tomasz Rogalski, a board member of PZHS. "There is a demand for the meat, although you have to remember it's an alternative product and quite expensive (approx. zł. 35 per kilogram). It's not really for the whole population but rather for a select group, but I do foresee it being more and more popular."

Tough sell? French-based hypermarket chain Geant confirmed that it had already tried selling ostrich meat last year. "It wasn't very popular though, and now it's difficult to say if will be in the future, although we are in talks and buyers are observing the market," a company spokeswoman said. "However, the possibility of it being sold in the future should not be excluded. We don't know when yet." Marek Żejmo, an ostrich farmer in northeast Poland, is already preparing to take advantage of the newly licensed abattoir in his area. "We have about 80 ostriches and are only now starting to crystallize our plans," he said. "Until now it was easiest to sell nestlings but the demand for them is saturated so we have to focus on the meat." Żejmo's reason for entering the trade is similar to most Polish ostrich farmers - to make money, he said. After traditional farming options dried up, the promise of earning a decent living in a niche sector was too good to pass up. But so far, Żejmo admits he is yet to see any profit. "Farming ostriches is much harder than turkeys and you need money for investment," he said. "You need to buy incubators and facilities. I still haven't made a profit but as soon as sale of meat starts, I hope to." PZHS's Rogalski warns that farmers shouldn't look to ostrich farming for a quick financial return. "It's a definitive alternative, but we are trying to voice the idea that it's not a solution to unemployment," he said. "It's not a get-rich-quick scheme, as the initial investment is pretty big and you can't just farm a few ostriches. To be healthy, ostriches need to dwell in larger groups."