Last Updated on Sunday, 19 April 2026, 18:19 by Writer
The construction of a dedicated slaughterhouse, use of high quality feed, adherence to international standards and high demand are key ingredients for a viable pork industry for the local and CARICOM markets, according to a top official of an American food manufacturing company operating here.
The National Milling Company (NAMILCO), whose parent company is the Kansas-based Seaboard Corporation, has invited Gira Food, at the request of the Guyana government, to examine the prospects of a viable pork industry.
NAMILCO’s General Manager, Scott Mitchell told Demerara Waves Online News that the France-based Gira Food would soon submit its report.
That document will inform whether Seaboard will return to stakeholders, decide it’s feasibility or push ahead with building a commercially viable swine industry in Guyana.
He says the report will essentially seek to answer questions such as the right genetics, right food, processing facilities including a slaughterhouse, training and education and value-added processing into other items such as hams, bacon and sausages.
Mr Mitchell pointed out that currently, without a dedicated slaughterhouse for swine in Guyana, inevitably people were finding a relatively clean area on their farm and maybe slaughtering under a tree.
In that regard, he stressed the need to build trust in the industry. “If you have a single abattoir, and you want it to be certified, and you’re able to then justify or substantiate the quality of the meat, then you might need an abattoir to process animals where you know what they’ve been eating, and you might give them a particular quality stamp, and then you can, in the afternoon, process something else, and then you obviously do a full facility clean before you process that certified meat again. So there’re opportunities to do both,” he also said.
Gira Food experts have so far met with the Guyana Livestock Development Agency (GLDA) and the ministers of agriculture, and public service and government efficiency as well as pig rearers, restaurants and quick-service restaurants, feed producer-Bounty, hotels, markets, retailers, farmers and butchers to “understand if we could add some value in that space,” Mr Mitchell said.
“A lot of what we’re doing today is looking at not only Guyana but can we set Guyana up as an export to the Caribbean, can we meet the needs of the region which is aligned to the CARICOM strategy of reducing food imports,” he said.
He said Seaboard was also trying to ascertain whether CARICOM would be willing to grant a common external tariff (CET) for pork produced in the Single Market.
He suggested that there would be need for some protection against cheaper pork from the US. “Even with 11 million consumers potentially across CARICOM, it’s still going to not be at the rate, the volume out of the US and potentially, there’s a lot of benefit to having local industries. But there’s still always going to be the risk of ‘can we be cost-competitive versus the volume of efficiencies out of America’,” he said.
He said while Seaboard was eyeing the CARICOM market, the company would make a decision on pork based on Guyana. After that, the regional market would be phased and “that’s why ensuring it’s commercially viable based on Guyana as our starting point.”
Mr Mitchell said the Guyana government sought NAMILCO’s assistance because Seaboard is the United States’ (US) third largest producer of pork products through four different companies.
He said Seaboard tapped into its own wealth of knowledge about a swine industry, conducted desktop research and then asked Gira to conduct a “deep dive” into what appeared to be a “genuine opportunity.”
Touching briefly on the market potential for pork, the NAMILCO Managing Director said Guyana’s protein consumption is in the mid-50s kilograms per capita compared to 120 kilogrammes in the US.
He said the trend has been that as people in emerging markets earn more money, their demand for protein – beef, fish and pork – increases.
The Gira experts were also taking into consideration the growing demand for pork among the large immigrant population of Venezuelans, Cubans, Brazilians and Chinese.
Mr Mitchell also said there is a sizeable demand for pork by workers on oil sector vessels offshore Guyana, but that brings into sharp focus the need for Food Safety System Certification, an ISO standard. “With those changing demographics, potentially, there’s going to be a higher increase or demand for pork. Pork is the number one protein consumed offshore but Guyana can’t sell pork to the offshore platforms because we lack the certification today,” he added.
Though there appears to be a “sizeable need’ for pork in Guyana and other CARICOM member states, he said a lot would hinge on whether all the key stakeholders were prepared to go on that journey.
The challenges include whether people trust their food sources, right quality and standards and willingness to pay for quality feed. In that regard, he emphasised the importance of educating farmers about the benefits of investing in more additives such as amino acids and protein through the feed to increase animal weight from 180 to 250 pounds.
Mr Mitchell also flagged the need for farmers to specialise instead of trying to do everything. If farmers focus on good feed sources and the correct genetics to maximise growth rates, potentially a farmer can move from between six and 10 piglets annually to 12, though the global standard is 35 per year.
“That’s where with our genetics and our expertise, we think we can potentially add value to increase the output and the quality, definitely,” the Seaboard official added.
He said less than satisfactory quality of feed would adversely impact sanitary requirements and export markets.
Asked whether Guyanese pig rearers were unwilling to part with their family owned businesses, Mr Mitchell said so far there has been no indication of that.
Instead, he said people wanted to do better by ensuring there would be markets for increased pork production. “At the moment, all of the engagement that we’ve had, people are enthusiastic about trying to create an industry and trying to put some scale around it,” he said. We’ve not heard anybody talk about the fear of becoming redundant in the supply chain.”
In the US, Seaboard processes 15,000 to 20,000 hogs per day, driving efficiency at scale.
Seaboard raises eight million hogs annually and processes about 24 million hogs a year.
Seaboard closest facility to Guyana is in Colombia, where the company is currently growing out an 800,000 sow herd for breeding and for genetics.
Seaboard Corporation, on behalf of Gira foods, said it appreciated the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Dwight Waldron and his team of the GLDA, David Fernandes of Bounty Farms, the Swine Association, AMICI, the Marriott and also the farmers for their invaluable support and assistance during the recent Gira Food visit.
“Their collective efforts, professionalism, and commitment were instrumental in the successful coordination and execution of the visit. The technical support, logistical assistance, coordination, and cooperation provided significantly contributed to ensuring a smooth, informative, and productive engagement.
Seaboard Corporation values the collaborative spirit demonstrated throughout this exercise, which reflects a shared commitment to nutrition, food safety, quality assurance, and national food security. Such cooperation strengthens institutional partnerships and supports continuous improvement within Guyana’s agro-processing and manufacturing sectors.”
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