A butcher in the northern city of Leeuwarden has begun importing camel meat from Australia – which he says is ‘just as delicious as beef’.

Australia is home to one million wild camels which cause so much damage to crops the government has sanctioned a cull – and the sale of the surplus meat abroad.

Johannes Hoekstra, of butcher De Schrans, heard about the meat and decided to import it.

Hoekstra bought 50 kilos of camel meat which is enough for 250 burgers, Nos television said. The meat itself is soft and sweeter than beef. But although the meat itself is cheap, the cost of flying it in is expensive, Hoekstra told the broadcaster.

A camel burger costs €4.95. ‘We lightly season the meat, mince it roughly and serve it with lettuce, tomato and two half hard-boiled eggs,’ he told BNR radio. The egg represents the humps and, says Hoekstra, the rolls are selling well.