The partnership between the Cold Storage Company (CSC) and Boustead Beef has ended in legal action, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuka has said.
It emerged that Boustead was unable to meet the terms of the agreement, triggering CSC's termination of the deal.
Mutapa Investment Fund chief executive Dr John Mangudya noted that crucial facets of the deal had not been met in June.
Consequently, CSC took legal action against Boustead Beef after it failed to meet the requirements of the deal.
Although the partnership was meant to last 25 years and promised to rebuild the company with a US$135 million investment, crucial conditions were not met, providing grounds for CSC's legal action against Boustead.
Dr Masuka confirmed the widely-known developments within CSC during his visit to Bulawayo last week.
"We have sought to disengage from that process, and that process is now a legal process. So that's why I say that this is a subject of some discussion elsewhere," said Dr Masuka.
He said CSC was crucial to the transformation of Zimbabwe's livestock sector, but the process of resuscitating the company had been dragging on, leaving people without a proper service.
He urged relevant ministries to implement short-term alternatives, while waiting for CSC to be fully restored.
Specifically, he pressed for the immediate provision of slaughtering services for small and larger stock.
The decision to cancel the partnership with Boustead Beef was made to ensure CSC's strategic role in the beef and leather value chains would not be jeopardised.
Prior to its shutdown, CSC had been a leading player in the local processing and sale of meat and the export of beef, mutton and goat meat to a number of countries.
CSC had played a leading role in the processing and marketing of Zimbabwe's beef since its inception in 1937.
It had largely survived on a US$15 million revolving payment facility with the EU since 1992, but viability challenges forced the company to close its doors.
The facility, which had been discontinued after the EU suspended imports in 2001 following an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, resumed operations in 2022.
CSC had an annual quota of 9 100 tonnes and used to earn at least US$45 million per year from the EU export quota.
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During the official reopening of CSC in August 2022, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga expressed disappointment that Boustead Beef had fallen short of its commitments under the Livestock Joint Farming Concession Agreement by injecting only US$24 million.
The partnership led to a rebranding of CSC as Boustead Beef-Cold Storage Company of Zimbabwe, reigniting hope for thousands of families who relied on the once-thriving company.
CSC was being run in a joint venture between the Government and Boustead Beef (Pvt) Ltd in 2019 under the rehabilitate, operate and transfer agreement.
While the joint venture had created 169 jobs, the rehabilitation of CSC was still unfinished, and there was a need to increase the daily slaughter of cattle from 60 to 2 000.
Ultimately, CSC aimed to grow the national herd and resume beef exports, but this would require close collaboration with livestock farmers and effective implementation of rehabilitation plans.
The urgency of providing slaughtering services in the short term could not be overstated.
