It Was Doubtless A Botswana Legend
The world’s best corned beef should not be a memory but a movement, writes DOUGLAS RASBASH
On 15 December 2021, Botswana lost more than just a brand – we lost a national icon. It was the day that ECCO was removed from our shelves due to health concerns.
The Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) aimed to revive its canned beef exports after reintroducing the product last year.
The cannery, originally established for the export market in 1970, had shifted focus to the domestic market due to high compliance costs. The BMC is now working to improve its processing capabilities, including adding pouch packaging to cater for market preferences.
Between 11n and 14m cans per year
Production is expected to rise significantly, from under 3 tons per day to between 11 and 14 tons per day, following a government directive to slaughter over 7,000 cattle from Zone 6B. This move aims to enhance sustainability by increasing farmer payments and ensuring a stable raw material supply.
Additionally, the BMC is improving labelling to highlight nutritional benefits and promote its premium high-meat-content products, which have limited regional competition.
With the planned upgrading, the BMC’s estimated annual production will range between 11 million and 14 million cans, if production reaches the expected levels. It relaunched its 300-gram ECCO corned beef and corned meat product lines in 2022. Key improvements included:
- New packaging colours to distinguish products:
- Royal blue: 100% beef corned beef
- Red: 65% meat content corned meat (chilli/hot flavour)
- Yellow: 65% meat content corned meat (plain flavour)
- Health-conscious changes, such as reduced salt, MSG-free ingredients, and soy-free formulation
- Hormone-free beef sourcing from Botswana cattle
The BMC had planned a full-scale marketing campaign to ensure wider product distribution within Botswana while improving customer knowledge and satisfaction. This did not happen, and ECCO is as rare on the shelves of Botswana shops as uninterrupted power supply to our homes.
The BMC needs to get the ECCO brand not only launched on the domestic market but on the international market as well. Why should a legacy brand like ECCO be left to languish? It’s time to bring it back – stronger, better and privately owned.
How Do We Do It?
Reviving ECCO through privatisation means handing it over to efficient, competitive, and innovative private investors who can restore its former glory. The process would follow key steps:
Government Divestment – The Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) sells its stake in ECCO, allowing private sector participation.
Competitive Bidding – Local and international investors bid to acquire ECCO, ensuring the best strategic partner wins.
Modernisation and Investment – New owners inject capital into production facilities, supply chains and branding.
Export Market Expansion – ECCO regains its place on global shelves, boosting Botswana’s agro-processing sector.
Job Creation and Skills Transfer – A revitalised ECCO employs more Batswana and trains a new generation in food production and exports.
The Spin-Off Benefits for Botswana
Agricultural Growth – More demand for locally raised cattle means better prices and stability for farmers.
Job Creation – From factory workers to logistics and marketing, ECCO’s revival means more employment.
Foreign Exchange Earnings – With ECCO back on global shelves, Botswana earns much-needed export revenue.
Brand Botswana – A revitalised ECCO enhances Botswana’s reputation as a producer of world-class beef products.
Economic Diversification – Privatisation turns ECCO into a competitive business that contributes to Botswana’s non-mining GDP.
The position of our progressive government is that it hopes to return ECCO to our shelves and is exploring all options, including PPP, according to Acting Minister of Lands and Agriculture, Dr Edwin Dikoloti. Let us hope they succeed.
The world’s best corned beef should not be a memory – it should be a movement. Let’s make ECCO great again! Let it become the flagship of Botswana plc. Let us Privatise it. Revive it. Export it.