On the occasion of the 2024 edition of Gulfood Manufacturing, we interviewed Eng. Raimondo Damigella the new Managing Director of Cogemat SRL, who recently replaced in this role the founder of the Company, Gioacchino Arena, after the celebration of his 50th anniversary of activity.
Cogemat is an Italian Company, one of the most important firms in Europe and very known worldwide, especially in Africa and Middle East, for its activity in design, manufacturing and installation of slaughtering systems and meat processing plants. Among the major projects you have successfully completed, could you tell me some?
It is not easy, being more than four hundred, from America to Far East, therefore I will limit myself indicating the oldest in Makkah, value of our contract USD 21,6 millions, till now the biggest sheep slaughterhouse in the world, with a slaughtering capacity of 200.000 sheep per day during Hajj, and our latest, in Egypt for Armament Authority, contract value € 39,3 Millions, for the realization of three complete “turn-key” slaughterhouses, including the canned meat facility.
You said “turnkey” project. Could you please explain in detail what do you mean?
Of course, and it is a good question because, most of the time, the Customer willing to set up a slaughterhouse ask to a not expert Consultant for design, hence often without positive result. Instead, if we are appointed since beginning, we are able to assist the Customer at 360 degrees until the successful commissioning.
It means that we are able to do the civils works (by local contractor under our responsibility),electrical and plumbing plants, the required cattle/camel/sheep/ostrich slaughtering line, water purification unit and waste water treatment, deboning lines, vacuum packing/ thermos shrinking/ drying, sausage/ hamburger/ luncheon meat production, cartoning line with metal detector, veterinarian lab, incinerator, traceability system, blood processing and rendering plant for fat bone, sub products processing and manure collection, refrigeration, air conditioning, freezing, compressed air, hot water and steam generator, air suction and change.
The slaughterhouse is often seen as a polluting factor. How Cogemat responds to today’s world challenges towards environment, climate and safe food?
The environment protection is our target, hence the project we propose is a “closed cycle” where all the waste are transformed in raw material to be used in other field. For this reason, we provide with the following environmental protection plants:
– Manure and rumen content collection, for drying and as fertilizer use
– Waste water treatment plant for irrigation
– Rendering plant for waste transformation in animal feed and liquid fat
– Blood processing system, to be used as fertilizer or fish feed
So, the impact is equivalent to zero. Special care is reserved to the UE Regulations, required in all slaughtering lines and consequent processes, and we do our service to obtain “tailor-made slaughterhouse”, assuring the best possible solution to match the Export Requirement. The modern “Cogemat traceability plant” has been studied just to ensure “safe and health” meat to the importers and to the local population.
On the occasion of Gulf food exhibition, what do you propose to potential customers visiting your booth?
We are in Italian Pavillon Sheikh Saeed Hall 2 stand S2-C43. With our videos and catalogues we’ll introduce different models of cattle ritual killing box: standing, rotating 90° or 180°, side or top opening (for long horn breed), hydraulic or pneumatic working.
All are Halal certified and we are proud to be the only European company with this acknowledgment.
We can also display the camel killing box and the mobile abattoir for cattle, designed and manufactured for “Fir Farm” in UK, used for the farm and going around Scotland ensuring the slaughtering service to small farmers. It got the approval by Food Standards Agency.
A last message that you would like to launch to the potential customers readers of the magazine?
Price is only one of the components of the project value, because you can discover a lot of mistakes when is too late.
Before to choose the supplier of your abattoir or meat plant, you have to evaluate seniority in the field, worldwide reputation, experience, professionalism, technical capability, full assistance in the realisation since beginning.
So, before to start with the venture, consider that COGEMAT puts on customer’s disposal more than FIFTY years’ experience, referred to the exclusive activity of design and manufacturing of slaughtering systems and meat technology, since 1972, hence we will be able to ensure correct design, manufacturing, delivery, installation, commissioning, training & start up.
We manage the project in a complete and integrated way, from construction to maintenance, enabling the customer to protect overtime the value of the performed meat project.
