MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS

Business Prospects of Launching a Camel Meat burger

A CAMEL BURGER, WHAT’S THE HULLABALOO ABOUT?

IS CAMEL MEAT BETTER THAN OTHER MEATS?

Camel meat is known for its large muscular fibres and high water content.

It has a slightly sweet taste due to the presence of glycogen and is usually a deep red colour.

Camel meat has two qualities which distinguish it from beef and mutton: it has lower fat and higher moisture content.

Fat in camel meat amounts to 1-2% whereas in beef that number is 4-8%.

Camel’s being spun as a healthier alternative to beef and lamb.  It boasts more protein, vitamin C and iron and less cholesterol.As part of a healthy diet, Camel meat can help reduce risks of cardiovascular disease through lower intake of saturated fats.

It has potential to be used to combat hyper acidity, hypertension, pneumonia and respiratory disease.

SHELF LIFE PROSPECTS

Due to the potential of ground garlic to extend the life of camel meat - finding that with garlic, it can last up to a month without spoiling if properly refrigerated, thanks to inhibited microbial growth and lipid oxidation.

Even a week is not enough time for the fats in the meat to go off and start creating the bad smells, tastes and potentially toxic organic compounds associated with oxidation during ageing.

The meat became more tender as its proteins broke down, but because it was kept cool the bacteria and other microbes that can make meat deteriorate grew only very slow.

This research has been done by Prof. Isam Kadim, of the Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat, in a volume published last year entitled Camel Meat and Meat Products.

PROF. KADIM’S RESEARCH :-

MEAT PRODUCTION

Camels are considered more efficient in producing meat as they essentially weigh in the range of 350-700 kgs.

Camel’s meat is a very important in arid and semi-arid regions in the world, where it constitutes an important resource for some countries such as Sudan, Somalia and Mauritania.

According to FAO statistics (2011), the production quantity of camel meat in the world has reached 351,548 tons/year.

Africa (249206 tons/year) and Asia (102253 tons/year) have been formed 99 % of the production in the world.

Sudan (49882 tons/year), Egypt (45000 tons/year ), Somalia (44200 tons/year ), Mauritania (22500 tons/year ), United Arab Emirates (19853 tons/year ) are representing the highest production of camel meats in the world.

SCOPE OF EXPANSION OF CAMEL MEAT?

A comparatively small component of global meat consumption, camel meat has the potential to undergo an explosion of production worldwide, and currently farming for camel meat in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Australia is undergoing significant expansion. 

The potential of camel meat in helping to meet projected world food shortages, and being sustainably farmed.

Camel meat contain a high percentage of glycogen, so that it is used in many food industries such as mortadella, sausage, corned beef, sausages and shwarma.

PACKAGED MEAT FOR PATTIES, FEASIBLE ENOUGH?

With only a few countries of arid climate, camel meat is not readily available everywhere. Thus, it needs to be imported from countries like Mongolia, Australia and the Middle East.

In India, apart from the instance of Bakr-Eid(that too, which has a SC precedent against it), the slaughtering of camels is against the regulations passed by the forestry department of India.

IS CAMEL MEAT BURGER ANY BETTER?

WOULD IT WORK AS A BURGER PATTY?

A Comparison Between The Components Of Camel And Beef Meat • Parameter % Camel Meat Beef Meat• Moisture 78.7 71.02• Protein 21.83 20.64• Fat 1.15 7.8 • Ash 0.89 1.15

It has two qualities which distinguishes it from beef and mutton: its low fat and high moisture content.

“It’s very healthy, and it has no fat,” Casbah owner Dali Chehimi . Very low fat content means you get your burger medium-rare. Too long on the grill and it dries out, says Chehimi.

BURGER PATTY, CAN IT BE MADE FRESH? According to a report by the A.Me.A,

processing camel meat needs a lot of time. While taking into account the 7 days buffer period from slaughter, processing and importing could harm the quality of the meat.

In accordance to Prof. Kadim’s report, adding preservatives to the meat can deteriorate the quality of the meat.

Camel Burger meat can be grilled only

for a small period of time as it has very

less fat. In a country like ours, the

primary market for burgers is the

youth. The youth prefers both the

grilled as well as the fried versions of

the patty.According to a report by McDonalds

(India), between Chicken Maharaja

Mac(Grilled) and McChicken(Batter-

fried), McChicken was bought 43% of

the time. Thus, the trend has been seen

that the grilled or the relatively

healthier burger is being consumed

more.In India, the taste and trends are such

that any meat product is eaten only

when it is well-done, ie, it is well cooked.

But camel meat can be grilled only till it

is medium-rare(pinkish in the middle)

lest it becomes chewy and stringy.

MEATS ECONOMIZING MEANS!

One camel will produce on average, 150 to 200 kilos of kofta (minced meat). As our burgers are around 180 grams, that works out at 1000 burgers per camel. (Source from Clock Café owned by Mike Richardson. Australia.

Considering that camels need less feeding and produce so much meat, it makes economic and sustainable sense for Westerners to get used to eating camel.

WOULD IT CATCH ON? The price of the cheapest of camel burgers have now

soared to double the price of what it had been reported a year earlier, AED 20 (about $5.45). To order a basic camel burger with cheese, one has to shell out nothing less than AED 40 (about $10.90), and for AED 15 more (about $4.09), one could cover one’s camel with sautéed mushrooms, spicy caramelized onions, and a fried egg. This is a case scenario in Dubai, where camel is taken as a delicacy to experiment with.

In Australia, camel meat burgers have caught on with the trend of exotic meat burgers, such as those of elk, ostrich and kangaroo.

In China, although the burgers from such meats are still conceptualizing, camel is still eaten in huge quantities.

IS THE CONCEPT WORKING IN OTHER COUNTRIES?

DETRIMENTS TO ITS CHOICE: Prejudice in youth towards Red meat despite its

nutritional value. Only young camel can provide soft tender meat

as old camel has stringy muscle fibres. Thus camel culling is not viable for producing meat. Camels need to be bred for solely this purpose.

Since camels would have to be imported, the cost of transport would be more.

The feed for camels for nourishment would be more as compared to the numero uno “Chicken”, thus the cost difference between the new entrant in the field and chicken patty would be greater.

DETRIMENTS TO SELL CAMEL BURGERS IN INDIA:

Good tender meat(essential for a burger patty) can only be procured through the slaughtering of baby camels. This is against PETA regulations.

“Camel’s meat is not notified a item of food, as per the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. Presently, provision is available only for slaughtering cattle, goats, sheep and pigs, within the Corporation limits. There is no qualified Veterinary Surgeon, who can certify the fitness of a camel or the suitability of its meat for consumption by human beings, or a licensed person to slaughter a camel. There are no licensed persons within the Corporation limits for the sale of camel’s meat. The license to sell beef will not enable the sale of camel’s meat.” – Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act, 1960

WOULD THE PEOPLE BUY IT STILL?Essentially, only a small part of the section, that too, specifically in Rajasthan, is compatible with the idea of eating camel meat. The rest of the people may have preconceptions and presuppositions when it comes to eating camel meat.But the extrovert foodies may still want to try and experiment. BUT THE QUESTION IS, WOULD IT BE A VIABLE BUSINESS PROSPECT?

BUSINESS PROSPECTS IN INDIA Globally, it accounts for 0.13 per cent – barely

one thousandth - of the meat eaten every year.

In India, it is eaten by a very small market segment. Introducing burger patties in India would mean not only free samples as sales promotion, but also, manners and methods to sway away any biases that people may be having towards consuming such meat.

In a sample survey done amongst 50 people(in NLU, Jodhpur), the primary data revealed that 37 of them were repulsed with the idea of even sampling it.

Thus, we need to make the unaware people cognizant of the nutritious value of the meat.

The cost of introducing such a risky product would be more and the proposition would be dicey.

Thus, firstly, Camel products should be made familiar with the people, by advertising through all the mainstream modes.

Camel milk, camel milk products, and packaged camel meat should be initiated in the TMS of metropolitan cities.

Seeing the response and the level of aversion, ties should be made with a fast food giant, in order to flash sell it for a trial period.

Essentially, at this juncture, when not even camel milk is available readily, introducing camel meat burgers would be a drastic step.

The business prospects of such an exotic meat burger are dim in a mixed-religion country like India where trying different meats can be considered taboo.

Where an aversion is pre established by peer groups.

People already comfortable with eating camel meat do not constitute the TMS as they are generally from villages or do not prefer eating out at fast food chains.

V/S

A study suggests that the majority of the burger eaters in India are not regular meat eaters. Regular meat eaters do not find contentment in fast food non vegetarian products.

Camel meat in burgers is not going to entice many regular fast food eaters.

THANK YOU! A presentation by Dhruva

Sareen towards partial fulfilment in the subject of Managerial Economics!