Märjamaa Butchery products are acknowledged by National and European Union organic quality labels. Animal welfare is important, Estonian organic livestock spend most of their life on pastureland. Conditions for natural behaviour are provided. The use of growth promotion substances and the use of hormones to control animal reproduction is prohibited. Synthetic allopathic veterinary medicinal products (antibiotics) cannot be used for preventative treatment. Livestock population is kept in balance with the size of the land.
Organic meat contains more useful omega-3 fatty acids and less fatty acids associated with chronic and heart diseases. The meat is high quality and has low environmental footprint.
We are buying organic cattle (including dairy and beef breeds), organic sheep and lambs. Please call +372 5689 6990 or e-mail kalev@maheliha.ee us to send the livestock to the butchery.
Our slaughter and carcass chilling rooms were both renovated in the spring of 2016. The boning room has been partially renovated and future steps to keep our facilities modern have already been made.
Organic documentary evidence number 262 has been issued on the basis of Article 29 (1) of Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 and of Regulation (EC) No 889/2008 and of Article 7 (21 ) and Article 17 (3) of Organic Farming Act. We have submitted our activities under control, and meet the requirements laid down in the named Regulations and Act.
Slaughtering and handling: cattle, sheep
Meat cutting and minced meat producing: beef, lamb
Meat preparations: beef, lamb
Area | 4.18 ha |
Facility | 585 m2 |
Staff | 15 people |
'18 revenue | 1.55 m€ |
'18 production | 350 tonnes |
Cattle in '18 | 1769 |
Sheep in '18 | 773 |
Estonia’s export of goods and services exceeds 85% of our GDP. The major exports are electrical machinery and equipment, wood and wood products, and mineral products. Main export destinations are Sweden, Finland, and Latvia.
According to WHO Estonia holds the 4th place in urban air quality in the world.
Population density in Estonia is 30.3 people per km2. That is almost four times less than EU’s average – 116.7 people per km2 –, making Estonia the third sparsely populated country in EU.
Estonians understand technology: Skype revolutionized communication, TransferWise changed international money transfers, GrabCAD helps to build products faster and Starship robots reframe local delivery.
The number of processing and marketing enterprises has also grown every year, as have sales of organic food. Healthiness is given as the main reason why Estonian consumers buy organic food.
More than two thirds of organic farmers in Estonia (1151) keep animals and, despite the small number of processing possibilities, the number of organic animals (except for dairy cows) has increased significantly in the last five years. Foremost are organically raised sheep (54,470 animals in 2015, 50,710 converted) and cattle (41,744 animals in 2015, 37,831 converted).
It is remarkable that 1/2 of all sheep in Estonia are organic. There were 350 organic farms who kept sheep and 154 farms with more than 100 sheep in 2015. The largest numbers of organic sheep were kept in Valga County, followed by Saare and Põlva Counties. The largest flock had 3,247 sheep (in Valga County).
The plan foresees for 2020 that, e.g., the area of organic land will increase to 180,000 ha, 20% of Estonians will be regular consumers of organic food, 30% of childcare institutions will offer organic food, the proportion of Estonian organic plant production products labelled as organic will be 90%, the proportion of Estonian organic animal production products labelled as
organic will be 50%, and the value of organic products processed in Estonia, as well as Estonian products exported or sold to other EU countries, will triple. One of the goals has already been met – 96% of Estonian organic plant production products were sold as organic in 2015.