Springbok Antelope
Our core product is Springbok Antelope meat, which is an extreme organic, healthy red meat alternative with a small ecological footprint.
The Springbok Antelope is sub-Saharan Africa's gem. Antelope are part of the Bovidae family. They are fast and agile hoofed mammals of which in Africa there exist 72 species, out of 84 in total worldwide. They have an enormous variety in colours and shapes. The Springbok Antelope is indigenous to the dry desert regions of south-western Africa where it roams in natural abundance.
AFRO FOODZ' Springbok are born and run free in the Karoo semi-desert in South Africa where they have evolved since 60 million years. They live on large tracts of land and humans do not interfere with them during their life. Being a semi-desert, the Karoo is a harsh environment and the antelope have to walk far to find food and for this reason grow slowly. They eat the vast diversity of shrubs that grow in the Karoo, with over nine thousand species in the Great Karoo and of which the "rooibos" tea shrub is one example. These desert shrubs have strong herbal flavours that create a naturally rich taste in the meat with great depth, but never "wild".
Springbok is an opportunity to eat tender and succulent meat without adrenaline. Adrenaline reduces the taste, texture and health of meat and is the result of fear that animals experience during transport and before the slaughtering process.
After living a stress-free life in the open desert plains, except perhaps the "rooikat" or "jakkals", which are small predators, giving the young antelope occasional trouble, greatest care and skill is taken by professionals to expertly cull selected animals during the night. They are sleeping during the night and do not expect this. They are culled in their natural habitat with a rifle and silencer and shot in the head, killing them immediately. There is no anxiety, there is no pain. Unlike most animals that we consume today, there is no cruel mass collection in their last moments of life and no squashed live transport to the abattoir. Above all, this is respectful for the animal, but also the lack of stress does wonders for the taste and health of the meat.
Springbok meat has the fine texture of Veal combined with the rich, subtle taste of organic, matured beef, but then without the high fat content of beef. When cooking it behaves similar to Tuna Steak and has the same lightness when eating it.
Currently, the Springbok that we supply live on privately owned land that ranges between 50 to 300 square kilometres, and we have started a project with the Richtersveld Community to repatriate Springbok on their vast 1600 square kilometre piece of community land.