Cape Town - The global recession has led to a decline in the market for luxury goods such as ostrich-skin products, but the demand for the big birds' meat has remained unchanged.

Hendrik Pienaar, chairperson of the Mosstrich Group, told the company's annual general meeting that group turnover had increased from R305m to R324m in the 2009 financial year.

For each of the past 12 years Mosstrich has been exporting some 1 200 tons of ostrich meat to European countries like Germany, France, Switzerland and Belgium.

Dr Frans de Wet, Mosstrich?s managing director, says in rand terms the group's ostrich meat exports amounted to R237m for the past financial year. Apart from ostrich meat, the company exports venison and ostrich leather.

Springbok meat comprises the largest part of Mosstrich's venison exports. Other types of game exported include kudu, blesbok, gemsbok and even zebra.

De Wet says that in 2009 venison exports were sluggish. He attributed this to the New Zealanders exporting more game than anticipated and to the fact that prices for game meat in Europe were down.

De Wet says that South Africa annually produces about 230 000 ostrich skins, 85% of which are locally tanned, dyed and exported to the US and Mexico for the manufacture of cowboy boots, and to France and Italy for the production of handbags, footwear, small leather articles and clothing.

South African ostrich leather exports are currently worth about R300m a year, which De Wet says is considerably less than in previous years.

- Sake24.com

For more business news in Afrikaans, go to Sake24.com.