The workers of the Álvaro Barba Machado base business unit (UEB), in "Colombia", dedicated to meat processing, told 26 that to achieve one ton of beef, they need to slaughter between nine and 10 animals.
They also said that, although they comply with most of the indicators foreseen in the plan for the year, they know that their efforts are far below the real demand of the surrounding population and their concrete manufacturing possibilities.
The entity's director, Héctor Ramón Pérez Zequeira, is very explicit in this sense. "The plans are based on the real raw material we have, and evidently, they are far from what the people need. The objective situation of the country affects us, as it does all sectors of society.
"To give you an idea, we slaughtered a pig here in January and the other time we managed to do it was less than a week ago. The breeding of this animal is much decimated, and that is a problem. Before giving another example, we used to work with 11,000 liters of oil per month, now we only use 400 liters."
"We are working with corn flour, and rice flour and we are starting to try with cassava flour because we know that the year 2023 will also be complex in terms of supplies and we cannot stop production."
The director assures that the situation has not prevented them from supplying the basic food basket to the municipalities of Amancio, Jobabo, and Colombia; and that they have contributed to Jesús Menéndez, Puerto Padre, and Las Tunas, in addition to the provinces of Holguín and Granma.
This center assumes the school snack of the Tunero territory and keeps a store open with the surplus of the productions in its locality. In addition, although the prices are not as affordable as they would like, they have been well accepted.
"We are immersed in achieving the efficiency of the boilers to eliminate the steam leaks that the factory has, improve efficiency and save; we are also changing the clocks, fixing the pipes, and making other adjustments. Our premises are very old and the working conditions are not always ideal."
These days they are working hard to hire cattle for next year. They have to knock on the door of each producer in the municipalities of Amancio (the one with the most cattle to contribute), Jobabo, and their own.
"For no one, it is a secret the current hard circumstances, and a transporter to bring the herd from a place as remote as El Indio de 'Amancio' to here, goes through many difficulties."
They are a collective of 232 members who have performed a feat during 2022. That is why, when they reached 100 tons of meat, they were extremely satisfied. Imagine, reader, that the men of "la Cárnica de Colombia", as they are known in the Balcón de Oriente, do an important part of the work manually. Therefore, when they claim to have processed 913 cattle in November, they have slaughtered, dehorned, chopped, and placed them for the manufacturing process, cutting with axes and knives, in an extremely remarkable physical effort.
Add to that the blackouts, from which they escaped, like almost no one else in these parts. On some occasions, they slept right there, around the unit. Because it made no sense to go home when the power went out and return at dawn, five hours later, to continue production.
Challenging times demand people like that, people of great commitment. That is where they focus their desires, to do more, in the year to come.
