Another slaughter season at Neqi A/S is almost over and the director, Ole Vestergaard, is positive about the results. Neqi A/S has slaughtered 268 tons of lamb, 23 tons of cattle and 39 reindeer.
-“We have had a really good slaughter season this year. We have followed our plan and there are virtually no delays, so it has gone well,” says Ole Vestergaard, CEO of Neqi A/S.
Although fewer lambs have been purchased this year, the amount of lamb meat is more or less the same as last year (2023). This is because the average weight per lamb has increased from 14.4 to 14.9 kg, explains the director.
– “So this indicates that conditions in the sheep farms are also good,” says Ole Vestergaard.
Record number of cattle slaughtered
It’s a special year for the slaughterhouse this year. A record number of cattle have been slaughtered, as 253 have been slaughtered, this is because the cattle farmer in Narsap Ilua is cutting down on the number of cattle.
– “23 tons of cattle have been slaughtered, due to the large number of cattle to be slaughtered we were delayed in slaughtering reindeer. The weather became too bad, and it became difficult to collect the reindeer,” says the director of Neqi A/S to Innovation South Greenland.
This is the reason why only 39 reindeer have been slaughtered this year.
Staff from Scandinavia a success
Every year during the slaughter season, Neqi A/S is short of staff. The slaughterhouse is run very professionally, and self-sufficiency is a high priority. However, staff instability has always been a challenge, as the duration of the jobs only extends over a specific season.
– “We’ve tried a new solution in terms of staff, bringing in seven employees from Norway and Sweden. This has been good, because it has always been difficult to get enough employees during this period,” says Ole Vestergaard.
He explains that Neqi A/S normally has around 100 employees during the slaughter season, while there are now 45 employees at the end of the season who work to prepare the fresh meat that will be sent to the northern part of Greenland before the sea ice freezes.
