At HOVU, we produce meat products for the meat processing industry. We specialise in mechanically recovered meat: a finely-textured, high quality special product that is obtained by mechanically separating the meat tissue still left on the bones after a carcass has been deboned by hand. Every year, this technology yields roughly 4,000,000 kg of pork: equivalent to some 45,000 animals that would otherwise be slaughtered for this volume.

When it comes to sustainability, we don’t just focus on saving raw materials. We have also set up advanced programmes for our production waste and by-products. Every last scrap of the carcasses that enters our location is put to good use. For example, the bones that remain at the very end of the recovery process are collected and ground up elsewhere, after which they are used as a base material for gelatine production.

This way, we ensure that nothing goes to waste that can still be used. By saving raw materials and working to produce a minimal volume of waste, HOVU makes a concrete contribution to the circular economy and a smaller environmental footprint. Now you know why the frikandel – the traditional Dutch minced meat sausage – has been named one of the most sustainable snacks around!