Luna Export Slaughterhouse, a company known for its abattoir and a chain of greengrocer businesses, received a food safety award in Seattle, a city in the United States.

Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), a private trade group, and the sponsor of the award, Green Fence, awarded the company in recognition of its efforts to improve its food safety management systems and work toward greater market access.

Companies from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and North America applied for the award six months ago. A team from the Initiative came to Ethiopia to visit the slaughterhouse after reviewing documents that were submitted by the company.

Luna Export, founded in 2004, got the award after updating its production line, training its staff in animal welfare and using modern sanitation techniques  to significantly improve the shelf life of its products. The company started the transformation three years ago.

Tesfalidet Hagos, founder and general manager of Luna, received the award in a ceremony that was held with the presence of 1,000 industry leaders. The company received the award with three more companies from Ukraine, Argentina and Shanghai.

"The award will develop the confidence of our customers and build their trust," he said. "It also helps us to get new market opportunities."

Luna slaughterhouse can butcher 250 goats and sheep an hour and 1,500 to 2,000 a day. The house has a white and red zone. The slaughtering process is conducted in the red zone, while the slicing of the meat and other processes are conducted in the white zone.

The company also documents its process from receiving the cattle to the end product. This includes recording the weight of the cattle when it is received, who provided it, and how long it took to be processed. It uses water and chemically treated materials to clean the working area as well.