HOW I MADE MILLIONS KILLING COWS
•Elsie Chinekezi, lady graduate-turned-butcher
By ndidi kennedy-ukaga
Sunday, April 8, 2007

• Elsie Chinekezie Photo: Sun News Publishing

Naira may indeed know no gender, if not so, a lady like Elsie Chinekezie will not be sitting atop millions doing what is believed to be the exclusive preserve of men. She is a butcher.

Her firm, MeatWorld Foods Limited, makes fortunes killing livestocks for sale. But of course, not all butchers are as fortunate as Chinekezie, may be that is where her qualification as graduate from University of Calabar comes in.

"In a way, you could say my trainning has stood me in good stead both in looking out for opportunities and more importantly, wanting to do my things differently," she says, self depracatingly.

She has over the years nurtured a the desire to change the unhygienic manner in which cow meat is being processed and sold in the market. It is like wanting to save humanity from hazzards brought about by eating conterminated meat. With her business, she has fulfilled her dream and now makes millions to the bargain.

Rather than the farmiliar manual system used in meat processing in markets and even bulcher shops, she provides similar service with automations. Born a native of Imo State, the lady bulcher studied Botany and graduated in 1995.

Every ramification, Meatworld is a corporate entity. When it began buisness, it only grossed a little over one million naira in turnover. But currently the business makes an average of N16 million profit after tax quarterly. Coupled with a cutting egde leadership style, Chinekezie may have eaned her place as a top shot in the increasing number of women in business. Yes, meat selling has always been a passion, but not every makes a success of their dreams. So, what is about Chinekezie, her dream, her business and what she thinks about women in her kind of business believed to meant for the men folks alone? She answers:

My dream
Meat selling started as an adventure and today it turned out to be a reality and a success.
With over five years of successful multi-functional management experience, my heart bleeds each time I see the manner in which meat is processed and transported openly especially on motorbikes to the local markets for sale. For decades, there has been no effort by either the state or Federal Government to regularize meat processing in Nigeria to ensure that we eat healthy and hygienic meats. I patronize these local meat dealers because there was no alternative place for me to buy healthy meat. I only make sure I boiled the meat for a long time with hopes that I have been able to kill all the germs.
The problem surrounding meat processing in Nigeria has for decade stared us in the face without anybody proferring solutions. I knew we needed a change in this area and when the opportunity came for me to implement that change, I grabbed it without hesitation. As a business inclined woman, I don’t hesitate to grab any opportunity in the society that can be turned to wealth. The preferred solution to meat processing was to introduce a mechanical and hygienic method of processing meat just as it is done abroad. In Nigeria we adjust to whatever condition we find ourselves whether It is in our favour or not. I knew I could sanitize the dirty and unhygienic way of killing animals and transporting them to the market for human consumption. It is said that 'health is wealth’, we must learn to live healthily.

Life as a ‘corporate lady bultcher’.
Life now as a corporate butcher has been fun and fulfilling. I started on a low scale just like every other new business. My meat was sourced from the abattoir just like the male butchers do. But mine was with a difference. I ensure that the cow is certified consumable by my team of animal specialists. The cow is well inspected against any form of diseases. It was not easy as a woman having to compete with the men who feels you have probably come to create a class in meat selling. Some of them said meat selling is meat selling whether sold in an air condition shop or in the open market. I have grown and advanced. I now source the animals from local farmers, and this has enhanced the hygienic processing of our company’s meat under a clean environment without us nurturing any fear for contamination.
MeatWorld is a meat company where we procure, process and market various kinds of meat products which are delivered to homes, hotels, restaurants and party operators. My new innovation in the meat business is all about selling meat under a hygienic and healthy environment. Over the years we have been used to buying meat which we are not sure of it’s origin. We are all aware that these meats are not only killed in a cruel way but are also transported and sold under unhygienic manner.
I have come to make a change where it is most needed and I am glad I am doing it.

My vision as butcher
My vision is to see my new innovation in meat business in Nigeria become the preferred meat provider. ‘If you must eat beef, eat right.’ We need to be careful of what goes into our mouth.
I started with one outlet and under a year due to patronage I had to open another outlet and now I am working on full expansion.
The uniqueness in my style of meat processing makes me outstanding as a woman in meat business. Since Lagos is my focal point, I want to be able to make my products readily available and accessible by everyone. Everybody is entitled to ‘eating right’. I want the good news to spread across the country so that people would have access to healthy meat. I am working on expansion to other states, which would be managed by individuals who would buy franchise but operate under our strict regulation and standard.

The business and its challenges
The business is capital intensive. I started with about five million naira, which has grown over the year. And presently I have placed the company into private placement of about 50 million naira. The business is quite lucrative especially with the ban on the importation of meat products. In MeatWorld we also process other animals like chicken, snails, goat and fish. Many people say the business is too bloody and tedious for a woman to manage but I disagree. It is made easy when there is a focus and the backing of a man.
It is not a dirty or bloody business as many would say. It has been turned around into a white-collar job. The meat are processed mechanically and packaged. The only thing that matters is that more employment has been created and people can be rest assured they can now eat healthy meat.
The greatest of all the challenges for my business is electricity. We need power to preserve the product, which must be kept fresh. In a case where there is no power, we had to generate our source of power, which is at a great cost. Fortune is spent on buying diesel and fuel to run the generators. We run two generators concurrently. Until the meats are sold, they have to be well preserved and fresh which means the generator must never stop working. There are some useful heavy equipment that I can’t afford to import because it would cost me fortune to maintain them. I have to make do with the little I can afford and manage.
This problem of power is also going to affect those who intend to buy franchise. They must have at least two stand-by generators for their cooling system before they can get the franchise.
Another challenge is awareness and acceptability. Many people are still patronizing the local market despite the risk. The most difficult thing to do in any society is to introduce a change. Many will kick against it while some would gladly accept it. Some people believe that since the meat is mechanically processed and sold in an air-conditioned outlet then the meat would be expensive. But the reverse is the case. It is not expensive. Our prize is very competitive. It might sound unrealistic but we sell at market rate.

Achievement and Breaking Even
I am fulfilled and happy, seeing what was like an adventure becomes a reality. A lot of people have shown interest in the business, which means it is a success. I am sure in years to come MeatWorld would be a branded name in Nigeria but I am yet to get to my expected height due to the cost of product especially generating power. The only consolation is that the raw materials, which are the animals, are not imported; we get them locally from the farmers. Farmers are my partners because I buy directly from them. In the last 15 months, the company has grown its assets from one million to 10 million and turnover of 16 million in the first year. I would have done more if not for the cost of production especially money spent on generating power.
The only way one can break even is by having constant power supply which would reduce the cost of production and enhance the profit margin.
The ban on the importation of meat affected has affected me positively. I love the ban so much because it has given our local farmers the opportunity they have long being waiting for. Many of them are smiling after decades of frustration due to low patronage on their farm products.

Private placement/selling of shares
MeatWorld started as a family business but it has grown and needs further expansion. We found out we could do better if we have partners who would be shareholders of the company. The business is capital intensive and we feel all Nigerians should be able to have access to buy meat under a hygienic environment which is why the company is selling shares to interested customers who want to partner with us. The consumer margin is increasing daily and their demand must be met. We can’t afford to disappoint our customers like Eko Hotel, Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Federal Palace Hotel, restaurants and individuals who patronize us daily. The business is quite profitable. The profit margin is about 30 percent but if well managed with less productive cost, one could make as much as 50 percent profit.

Advice to other women
Women should believe in themselves. They should never see any task as impossible. All they need is focus and perseverance. Women should look around for gaps left to be filled in the society and they should not hesitate to grab the opportunity. They must not neglect the home front. They need the family support and understanding else they will fail.
My family especially my husband who is also a Director in the company, has been very supportive. He trusted in my managerial ability and skills and gave his full support both financially and morally.

Mechanized meat processing in Nigeria
It is a welcome development and it has been accepted as the only option to hygenic meat processing. We are trying to meet up with the standard of what is obtainable abroad. The industry is worth over 95 million naira per annum. So a well-established meat marketing venture in Lagos will break even and bring good returns of about 30 percent gross margin in the first year of operation.
Apart from the local meat sellers, there are other meat-marketing operators like UAC Foods, UTC and others who have broken even.
I believe we will get there because the process has been initiated.