Dutch veal on the Egyptian market: a speciality

Since 2005, Dutch (white) veal is imported in Egypt, after years having been banned because of the BSE crisis in Europe. The situation of BSE in Europe has been improved tremendously, but boneless meat of cows under the age of 30 months can be traded safely anyway (OIE, 2005).

Dutch veal is from young calves which are fattened less than 8 month old and which have an average carcase weight of 150 kg. The yearly amounts of exported veal from the Netherlands to Egypt are still relatively small (between 40,000 and 85,000 kg net weight, with a value between 313,000 and 756,000 euro). Dutch veal is a speciality for which import in Egypt has still some restrictions.

Veal production has a history in the Netherlands, which goes back as far as the Middle Ages. Were young animals in those days fattened with large quantities of whole milk, nowadays calves are fed by milk-replacement feed developed on the basis of skimmed milk powder, whey powder and fats. The sector grew from 100,000 in 1970 to 222,000 tons carcase weight in 2008. The Netherlands is exporting almost all of its production, with Italy and Germany as its major destinations. France and the Netherlands are the largest EU producing countries of veal and the Netherlands holds the largest veal slaughterhouses worldwide.