Buxom Poultry Limited recently welcomed Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino to the official opening of the recently refurbished processing plant.

The recent acquisition of Buxom Poultry Ltd by Borg Group of Companies has brought about a major overhaul in all facets of the companies operations. Improvements and investment to the tune of over Lm500,000 has transformed Buxom Poultry into a state-of-the-art poultry processing plant.

Buxom Poultry is proud to have acquired through its considerable investment, EU standard certification and Number.

Buxom Poultry Ltd was one of the first operations to produce chicken for the Maltese market. From the outset, Buxom’s success brought about continuous progress in poultry processing. Since then, Buxom has continued to develop and improve its facilities to cater for its clients’ needs and to supply the market with fresh chicken on a daily basis.

Few of us would imagine the processes involved before fresh chicken is readily available daily at our local butcher shop or supermarket. Buxom Poultry Ltd is equipped to ensure that all these processes are carried out according to EU standards and directives to guarantee fresh chicken products.

The process of fresh poultry production begins with the importation of high quality eggs that are hatched at ‘Flock Hatchers’, Buxom’s sister company. Once hatched, the chicks are taken to licenced poultry producers to be grown. Once fully grown, the chickens are returned to Buxom Poultry to be processed. Every product is tagged with an identity number also known as the batch code, which is indicated on all Buxom products.

Besides strict and rigorous quality standard procedures, special attention is required to guarantee that the chickens are received for processing in the best possible state. Buxom Poultry’s contractual agreements to maintain continuous monitoring with chicken breeding processing entities are carried out according to veterinary service regulations.

It is now compulsory, according to legislation, that the official regulations in poultry processing are observed and that all processes involved are carried out in the strictest hygienic conditions. Special production control dictates that the plant is physically divided according to processing stages, to ensure that employees do not mix to prevent contamination. The larger part of the production process is mechanised reducing manual labour considerably. Today Buxom poultry is capable of processing 25,000 chickens per day.

It is of utmost importance that consumers are aware of quality and hygiene standards that prevent health hazards and ensure value for money. Frozen products that have been thawed, sold as fresh and then re frozen pose serious health risks to the consumer. Consumers should read the information on the label. Buxom products carry the following information on their labels:

(1) Name, address and telephone number of the company

(2) Recommended temperature indications

(3) Date of production and date of expiry

(4) The company licence number

(5) The product batch code (ID number)

(6) The price per kilo of product

(7) The price of the particular Product

In all instances, chicken products have strict temperature control indications according to the product. In the case of fresh chicken, the shelf life is three days and unless frozen, must be consumed within this three day period. When defrosting chicken, best results are obtained when it is defrosted in the fridge and the water drained is not in contact with the chicken.

In practically all European countries as is the case in Malta, fresh poultry is very popular and is preferred to frozen. Fresh poultry as in all fresh food, is healthier and has a distinctive taste. Buxom Poultry Ltd encourages the consumer to make this distinction and seek products that are genuine. Buxom Poultry operates at night time to provide retailers with fresh chicken daily every morning.

Retailers who prefer providing fresh chicken to their consumers which is not packed, is specially tagged with the Buxom logo. Consumers can identify an unpacked Buxom product with this unique tagging system. Buxom are the only local company that produces fresh chicken which is tagged.

Consumers can trust the Buxom brand as a local brand, that is fresh, has no added water or other artificial additives and is a genuine product.

Among the wide range of poultry products, Buxom produces;

• Whole chicken

• Breast fillet of chicken

• Chicken leg quarters

• Chicken wings

• Chicken Drumsticks

• Chicken Thighs

• Chicken Tenderloins

• Boneless Chicken meat

• Chicken Liver, Necks and

• Gizzards

Buxom Poultry products are available from butcher shops and supermarkets.