Himmerlandskød is registered as a company in 2008 and is cutting and ageing meat from app. 30.000 pieces of cattle a year mostly delivered from Himmerland and branded as Himmerlandskød. Production and sales are focusing on Danish quality food with high standards in food safety, animal welfare, traceability and a high and reproducible quality. Age, form, fatness and degree of marbling of the cattle are in focus to ensure a high meat percentage. The beef cuts are typically aged for 12-14 days to give tender, juicy meat. HIK has staff of 38 employees.

Main roles/competences

Himmerlandskød A/S will deliver beef cuts from their slaughterhouse to the project and will contribute by adapting the cuts and packaging methods for the new process, aiding in defining demands for prolonged shelf-life, expertise in quality judgement, general demands from the market, sensory assessment by experts, and will participate in practical testing of the shock wave machine.

Infrastructure available at HIK: The company has a cutting and deboning line and a packaging line.

Benefit

HIKs’ participation in the project is highly synergistic with their business strategy as they view the investment in novel technologies that can accelerate process times, assist them in improving eating quality of fresh beef cuts, insure an even eating quality and prolong the shelf-life in the retail-end as important for remaining competitive. HIK (and HVSL) expects to become first movers on national and international markets enabling them to directly economic  benefitting from the added values of the new meat cuts and preactivated raw material.

High benefit by new/improved product:

• Low value meat cuts are made more tender with Shock waves.

 
Medium benefit by new/ improved processes:

• Shorter maturation time reduces energy costs and raises the throughput of meat in the production chain.
• Shock waves will result in a more even and higher quality of the meat

 
High benefit by expanding the existing market:

• New range of more tender meat cuts for retail and catering, with a longer shelf-life at the customer.