ZimTong IS THE NEW NAME IN THE BILTONG MARKET

Beef biltong is an amazing source of protein, vitamins, and minerals. It is prepared without ever being heated or dehydrated, and is air-dried. Additionally, it is low in carbohydrates, sugars, and contains no gluten.
Tradition:

Zimtong Biltong has emerged on the market to continue with the tradition of availing biltong to the Zimbabwean market. The company started in August 2021 and is co-owned by David Landsberg and Trevor Cooper, an entrepreneurial and hardworking duo. Trevor has been in the meat industry for over 20 years, bringing in lots of expertise and guidance for the Harare-based small business.

The company had a funny beginning, as explained by co-founder David: “We were sitting and chatting, when a friend came around and offered us some biltong. After tasting it, it had no flavour and we decided to start making our version of biltong,” he said.
Their biltong is inspected and processed on delivery to prevent any contamination. Working on batches of small quantities is preferred as they are easier and faster to process. The drying area and dryers are cleaned regularly and gloves are worn when cutting, processing, and serving customers.

Delivery options include orders of 1kg and above within Harare (20km radius). Only large orders can be delivered outside Harare and cost will depend on distance.

Product:

They mainly produce beef biltong, readily and abundantly available in the country. Occasionally mix that with the rare but much-loved game biltong, whenever they can source it. Beef biltong comes
in four flavours (plain, garlic, chilli and garlic chilli) and game meat biltong, they have the plain and
chilli versions. Sourcing of the meat is from PHI Commodities abattoir based in Shamva or Koala Park Butchery and abattoir (Harare).
The biltong products undergo stringent production processes. The natural drying of biltong is done when the weather is correct. Indoor dryers are used if the weather does not permit them to naturally dry their biltong.

Regarding the average moisture and fat content, Zimtong considers that fat content is hard to place a figure on as every piece of meat differs. However, they do trim the fat off if the customer requires less fat on their biltong.

“The moisture content
of our biltong ranges between 50% and 55%.
If a customer requires a higher moister content, we will make it to their specifications, and it will not affect the price. If a customer requires a lower moister content the price will be affected as with dehydration of any product there is a certain threshold where a business starts losing money. Currently, our threshold is 50% dried,” said Trevor.
Zimtong’s biltong is unique since in-house recipes are used and the base spices used are a filler to their spice requirements.

Their base spice range
is supplied by a local spice company before an internal process commences of adding coriander, pepper,
garlic, chilli, salt, vinegar, Worcestershire source and meat tenderizer to obtain the flavours we require.
“We also make on-request biltong cakes according to the client’s requirements. From a 500g cake up to 6kg cakes with multiple tears, of which can be one flavour or multiple flavours,” added David.

They used to offer custom biltong options however, they do not offer this option anymore other than the moister content has been changed. Customers were asking for specific flavours, glutton-free and a variety of other custom biltong requests and then not showing up to collect or pay for their orders leaving them stuck with a product they couldn’t sell.

Pricing, marketing and the future

Customers can place a minimum order of $5 per packet and delivery of 1kg packages is also made within a 20km radius of the Zimtong location in Harare.
Orders can be placed through WhatsApp, Facebook and by phone. Attendance at various markets and events in the northern suburbs of Harare is also done where orders can be placed.
David and Trevor believe that their product lines are of top quality. Their main focus at present is to keep customers happy by maintaining high standards.
Currently, they only produce biltong and they are looking at venturing into boerewors in 2024.

Contact Details:

Trevor 0772302162

David 0772584398

Grant 0771153213 (Sales Rep) Gook 0778695574 (Sales Rep)