Charl de Villiers, chair of the Game Meat Industry Association of South Africa, says biltong is worth protecting as it grows in popularity abroad, possibly through a geographical indication or intellectual property protection like the one covering Rooibos.

Speaking to CapeTalk, he said he would endorse a Southern African geographical indication for biltong, as long as it protects production standards rather than only origin. No law has been proposed, despite how the idea has been reported.

An industry body chair says the option is worth considering.

De Villiers is clear about the difficulty. Biltong is not only South African, because it is also made in Namibia and elsewhere, so any protection would need to be regional and linked to South Africa's reputation. He separates it from beef jerky on method: biltong is air-dried, while jerky is normally sweeter and often goes through a heating or cooking process.

He is also wary of a blanket rule. Saying biltong can only be made in South Africa would cut out established producers in the UK, where large South African communities make it in a way that closely resembles the real thing. So he suggests the industry first defines what makes biltong authentic, such as how it is made, its quality, food safety and traceability, and protects those characteristics.

He acknowledges that formal standards would add cost and compliance for producers, particularly exporters, though export markets already demand food safety and traceability. He would extend the same idea to droëwors. There is also a more immediate obstacle: the current foot-and-mouth outbreak has made it hard to export biltong in the form local consumers know.

BusinessTech reported De Villiers's comments, including his line that the goal is not to put a fence around biltong but to make sure its South African identity and standards travel with it.

SAnews reported in 2021 that Rooibos became the first African food registered on the EU's list of protected designations of origin, joining Champagne and Irish whiskey. Retailing Africa noted the Rooibos industry first had to register the name properly at home before it could pursue protection abroad.

The Rooibos comparison is less straightforward than it sounds. Rooibos grows only in one region of the Western and Northern Cape, so tying the name to a place was natural, and even then the industry had to secure protection at home before the EU listed it.

Biltong can be made anywhere by anyone who learns the method, and much of what is sold abroad already is. That is why De Villiers lands on standards rather than geography, which is the sensible call. A defined, certifiable standard for how authentic biltong is made could help a South African or diaspora producer prove quality to a buyer without shutting out the UK makers who built the overseas market.

The cost is compliance, and it would fall hardest on small producers. The nearer problem is foot-and-mouth, because no label helps a product that cannot be exported. It is a smaller version of the trade questions behind South Africa's export talks with Brazil.

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