The Allana Group, which was exhibiting at this year’s Sial Paris, exports its buffalo meat to 64 countries worldwide. The group was founded in 1865, starting out with spices, but moved into the meat sector in 1969.
President Afzal Aziz told GlobalMeatNews that buffalo, next to beef, is “much leaner, and contains more vitamins and more proteins”. He added: “There has been analysis by the US Department of Agriculture that shows it is healthier. This is free from hormones, antibiotics and growth promoters. We use small livestock holdings in India, so it’s not so commercialised like in feedlots.”
Allana said that it singularly accounts for 60% of meat exports from India; the meat is a by-product of the Indian dairy industry, since buffalo milk is popular in the country.
The company is looking at different markets around the world into which to expand. Aziz said: “At the moment we are quite upbeat about the Russian market. The bans [sanctions on Western meat] are quite a good opportunity for us.
“We do a lot of business in Africa and the Middle East, and now in Indonesia the laws have changed and they are looking at India, which gives us an opportunity to export there.”