Letter to the Reader
Thank you to everyone who has visited EarthwormExpress over the last years. It is a pleasure sharing matters related to meat science and factory management, cost optimisation and commercial opportunities through this platform. Over 500 000 article reads have been logged.
I am finally at a stage in my life where I am available for short term contract work from a few days to a few months, anywhere on earth and can utilise a lifetime of experience.
– Work Across the World
I moved to Graz in Austria in 2026 after my marriage to Christa Berger, an Austrian lady raised on a farm in Styria in the Wechsel mountains. We are launching our own brand of meat products in South Africa and Austria, and this leaves room for short term contract work while it gets off the ground. I plan to continue to spend most of my time working in South Africa and Africa at large, but I could work anywhere.
– Experience
I have years of production, market development and management experience in South Africa, and 7 years in Nigeria where I helped set up and commission the largest meat plant in West Africa for the Spar Group. In Austria, Christa and I are closely connected to the oldest meat processing traditions of Austria and Germany, with links to leading master butchers and top meat institutes such as the Max Rubner Institute in Germany. I have also worked in New Zealand and the UK.
I live a life where “impossible” does not exist!
– Speciality
Do you need any of the following done?
- I move profilt margins up!
- I demolish bottle necks!
- I develop amazing products!
- I improve systems!
- I measure everything and I dont use expensive computers!
- I reduce your buying prices!
- I create new markets!
- I instill excellence!
- I do the impossible!
I fill gaps and leave having improved things permanently!
- A key staff member off sick for a time, and a gap needs to be filled
- A new project that needs someone to drive it
- Formulations reviewed, not from a spice supplier perspective, but from someone who knows where functionals are not needed to achieve the same results
- A new factory being designed and built, and a man on the ground to oversee construction from a factory owner’s perspective.
- Production yields that need to be measured and managed more effectively
My areas of specialisation include the following.
- I thrive on challenges!
- I major in “impossible”.
- I go back to the basics of everything! Meat systems, ingredients, everything!
- Plant management systems that works! Full yield management without added cost
- With partners I integrate AI systems that measure and manage yields, monitor compliance to manufacturing standards, and enforce production SOPs and ensure absolute discipline in production. Or I do it with manual log looks and Excel.
- I get you new markets!
- I get the job done!
Contact
If any of this is relevant to your operation, please reach out on ebenvt@gmail.com or WhatsApp +27715453029.
Links
#MeatScience #MeatIndustry #FoodTechnology #MeatProcessing #FoodManufacturing #ProcessedMeat #MeatPlantManagement #FoodSafety #QualityControl #ProductDevelopment #MeatFormulation #FoodInnovation #ArtificialIntelligence #AIinManufacturing #SouthAfricaBusiness #AustriaBusiness #NigeriaBusiness #ContractWork #Consulting #FoodScience
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Menu Page
For a complete list of all the articles, see Menu Page.
Origins Global Meats (Pty) Ltd. is our innovative meat solutions company redefining how meat is processed, utilized, and brought to market across Africa and beyond. At the core of our mission is the full and sustainable use of the entire animal carcass—especially the often-overlooked parts—to create nutritious food products, high-quality animal feed, and organic fertilisers. Our goal is to maximise value and profitability through smart, sustainable carcass utilisation.
The New Standard in Factory Control (Integrating AI)
- GENAU: AI-Supported Data Capture and Factory Management for Meat and Food Production
- GENAU: KI-gestützte Datenerfassung und Fabrikmanagement für Fleisch- und Lebensmittelproduktion
- Why Conventional Factory Systems Struggle and Why GENAU Succeeds
- Warum herkömmliche Fabriksysteme scheitern und warum GENAU erfolgreich ist
- Shannon, GENAU and the Mathematics of Reliable Factory Control
- Shannon, GENAU und die Mathematik zuverlässiger Fabriksteuerung
The Meat Factory
I share notes on lessons learned, and I index work I have done on technology and considerations applicable to factory design in developing and developed countries.
Bacon & the Art of Living – The Authoritative History of Bacon – never told before!
The complete story of bacon, told from a 20th-century perspective, cast in a steampunk style.
Nose-to-Tail and Root-to-Tip: Re-Thinking Emulsions
I re-think every aspect of fine meat pasts in cooked sausage production from a commercial small-good manufacturer’s perspective. Every part of the animal is used and every part of the plant is.
The best Bacon and Rib System on Earth
Years of dedicated research and design culminated in the best bacon system on earth.
Artisan Meat – Practiced from the beginning of time!
These pages are devoted to the curing art.
About Nitrite
A list of my complete work on Nitrites. Nitrites are placed within their proper role in meat curing and human health and physiology.
The History of Bacon, Ingredients and Related Technologies
The home of the history of bacon, ingredients and all technologies related to bacon curing. As always, we deal with the history of its use and the chemistry and mechanics behind its functionality.
The Salt Bridge
The fascinating history of Salt from around the globe. It is key to our understanding of the development of curing.
The Present and Future of Meat Processing
The Present and Future of Food Processing features exciting and interesting new processes and technological frontiers.
Mechanisms of Meat Curing
Here we examine the mechanisms of meat curing.
Honey – the magical super-food
Honey is one of the world’s first natural medicines and to this day, an amazing superfood! Here we consider its history and value as a functional ingredient in cured food formulations.
Kolbroek and the Kune Kune
The Kolbroek pig of the Western Cape and the Kune Kune of New Zealand represent two Indigenous pigs
Nitrate and Nitrite – their history and functionality
One of the most exciting stories in bacon is that of saltpetre (potassium nitrate) and sodium nitrite.
Sausages and Blended Hams
We delve into its history and focus on a few legendary sausages.
The Master Butcher from Prague, Ladislav NACHMÜLLNER
The amazing story of Ladislav Nachtmullner, the inventor of the first successful commercial curing brine containing sodium nitrite.
The Fascinating History and Use of Ascorbate
The amazing story of the discovery of ascorbate.
My memories of Woody’s
My memories of the company I created in 2008 with Oscar Klynveld.
Eben Interviews Food Mavericks
Here I celebrate men, women and companies from our industry – from the past and present.
Counting Nitrogen Atoms – The History of Determining Total Meat Content
The history of total meat determination with nitrogen as the basis.
Microbiology & Preservatives
Conventional and unconventional strategies to manage micro.
My memories
I’ve been long enough in this industry to have great memories. Here I share them.
A List of Articles: Power-Nutrition for UFC Fighters and other fighting sports such as boxing and Judo.
Sacred Salt and the Northern Gods
A collaborative discussion on a journey between Hallstatt and Turpan and back along the ancient Silk Road where we re-examine key food and nutritional concepts.
I have been dedicated to food science and meat in particular for the last 20 years. I recently became powerfully aware of the interconnectedness of animals, humans and our cosmos. With a friend, we continue to discover powerful synergy between our lives, the observations from food science and the most recent understanding of the cosmos.
On A Personal Note
It is impossible to separate work from worship, just as one cannot separate nation from land. The following are more personal reflections.
Have a question or comment, or contribution?
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A small selection of site pictures
What a stunning website! Very valuable information and very interesting reading.
Great Eben!
thanks , very interesting web site.
well done.
Richard Brummer
Cleaning World
This site is priceless absolutely priceless.
Thank you, Ian!
Hi there..what a very interesting informative article..I have for many years had a deep interest in Joshua Penny and his life…and I would love to chat with you and we. May have valuable insights to exchange..I would absolutely love to Visit Penny’s cave ..I’m not quite so hiking fit as I used to be…In my research I seem to have identified a possible 2nd Joshua Penny at the Cape at that time…recorded as being British..
Who was detained at the Castle. He appears to have later go e off to the Dutch East Indies …Perhaps they are one and the same person or were there two Joshua Penny’s .
Did our American Joshua…head back home Westward after finding his .that makes more sense doesn’t it, rather than head even further Eastward..
Pls will you WhatsApp me for a chat at 0746846023..
Kind regards
Mark Shelton.