Quail Saves Me: A Case Study of How RLS Piggery Farm Turned into Nek Nek Egg Trading (PDF)

Quail Saves Me :A Case Story of How RLS Piggery Farm turns into Nek Nek Egg Trading (Case Study) by Justice Lery R. Roderos MAB Student Quail Saves Me :A Case Story of How RLS Piggery Farm turns into Nek Nek Egg...

Quail Saves Me :A Case Story of How RLS Piggery Farm turns into Nek Nek Egg Trading (Case Study) by Justice Lery R. Roderos MAB Student Quail Saves Me :A Case Story of How RLS Piggery Farm turns into Nek Nek Egg Trading INTRODUCTION Street vendors sell a variety of snacks ranging from sweet to savory. Among the items they sell are small boiled eggs known as itlog ng pugo in the Philippines (quail eggs). These bite-sized eggs are produced by quails, which are domestic game birds that are small to medium in size. These birds can provide more than just eggs. Quails can be a good source of extra income for a farmer with an entrepreneurial spirit. According to Ceasar Ian G. Soliven of the Department of Agriculture's Regional Office 2 (DA RFO 2) Cagayan Valley Research Center, not many people are aware of how profitable quail raising can be. Those who engage in it usually do so as a hobby rather than for a living. In this quail farming started the story of Mr. Soro. Mr. Rolly Soro, who has dedicated his entire life to farming, graduated from Central Luzon State University with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. His business began in RLS piggery, and the population of his piggery grew over time with the assistance of his farm worker until the African Swine Fever infiltrated RLS farm. Mr. Soro is concerned about how he will recover from the problem, as well as how he will pay his debt to the feeds company that he used in his piggery farm. Mr. Soro attempts to venture into quail farming due to his passion for farming and the influence of a friend, despite the fact that he has no experience in this type of business.  Mr. Soro made his name in various public markets. The fruit of his marketing strategy became a challenge to the business because the eggs they produced were insufficient to meet the market's needs.  COMPANY’S BACKGROUND RLS Piggery Farm was established in 2016 and registered with the Department of Trade and Industry in 2019. The farm began with five (5) sows, ten (10) fatteners, and one (1) boar, until Manny Cruz, a long-time farm worker of Dr. Apayao (a well-known Veterinary Doctor in their neighborhood who specializes in hogs), became interested in RLS Piggery Farm.. (Exhibit 1- Piggery Farm) Mr. Rolly Soro, who has dedicated his entire life to farming, has entrusted the management of his farm to Many Cruz. Mr Soro noticed a huge growth in his hogs: 40 sows, 200 fatteners, 200 piglets, and they sell an average of 10 hogs daily, all under the supervision of Manny. Mr. Soro was taken aback by the growth of his farm and the increase in profit he made in this business. Until last 2019, when African Swine Fever infiltrated his farm, the virus infected all the pigs, resulting in a debt of 2.5 million pesos for feeds and other farm expenses. (Exhibit 2 – Confirmed African Swine Fever cases as of March 2020) Through the influence of his friend Romeo Madulid, who had also experienced the ASF on his farm, he encouraged Mr. Soro to start a quail egg business and to convert all his swine pens to quail housing. He also exposed Mr. Soro to the opportunities of the quail business, including the possibility of paying off debt caused by the ASF. Mr. Soro took the risk of venturing into Quail egg production the same year after his farm was infested with ASF. He started his own quail farm, changing the name from RLS Piggery Farm to Nek Nek Egg Trading inspired to his wife's nickname Mrs. Maricon Soro.  Nek Nek Egg Trading has been selling quail eggs and culled quail for two years. The farm began with 1000 quail heads and currently has a total of 15000 quails. (Exhibit 3- Nek Nek Quail Farm)  ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT Owner Mr. Rolly Soro earned a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Central Luzon State University, but instead of pursuing his career, he chose to get into farming. Mr. Soro has no experience managing quail, and he always approached Mr. Romeo Madulid for advice and guidance on how to manage the farm since he began producing quail eggs. Until that time, Mr. Soro attempted to watch YouTube videos on quail farming and used all the videos in his farm operation. In his farm, Mr. Soro serves as the owner, supervisor, and troubleshooter. He oversees all paperwork required to register the farm, as well as contacting farm feeds and quail suppliers and handling client calls and concerns. Mr. Soro also inspects the farm, the quails, and the eggs, and he supervises his workers' other untidy job. (Exhibit 4- The owner) Farm Worker In the farm, there is just one employed farm worker, who is an elementary graduate and a long-time friend and neighbor of Mr. Soro. This farm worker has no experience with quail farming and is solely exposed to rice cultivation. His responsibilities include keeping the farm clean, providing water and feeds to quails, collecting eggs, and packing the harvested quail eggs. Aside from that, the farm worker is also in charge of other animals on Mr. Soro's farm. His monthly salary is 3500 pesos, and he receives free snacks and lodging, as well as damaged and deformed quail eggs. The farm worker doesn’t receive any fringe benefits.  PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT Source of Farm Inputs Mr. Many Castillo from Bulacan is the farm supplier for ready-to-lay quail (RTL). When Mr. Soro contacts Mr. Castillo to send another batch of quail to his farm at a cost of 25 pesos per head, Mr. Castillo adds 10 heads of quail for every 1000 heads. The farm's main source of feed is Sarimanok (Pigrolac). This feeds company was also his piggery's feeds provider before ASF invaded it. Because of his piggery, he owes to the firm 1.5 million pesos. However, because of quail, the debt has decreased to 250,000 pesos. The company has a one-month payment term with Nek Nek Egg Trading; they will give the farm one month before paying the feeds, but they must pay first before the company will provide another supply of feeds to the farm. This is due to the fact that the farm has a debt balance in his most recent agricultural operation, which is the piggery. Sunshine Quail Feeds cost 1360 pesos each sack, and the farm will need 2,000 bags per month to feed all 15,000 quails. (Exhibit 5- Feeds Storage of the Farm) Location The farm is in Barangay Saranay, Sto. Nino 3rd, San Jose City, Nueva Ecija (Exhibit 6– Location Map). The road is in rough condition from the farm to the National road. Mr. Rolly Soro has a total of 3.5 hectares, including a quail farm of 500 meters. Nek Nek Egg Trading is located in the heart of the farm. The production of egg quails, sorting, and packaging will all take place on the farm. (Exhibit 7 – Location of the Quail Farm) Farm/Production Capacity The farm has a total of 15,000 quails, which is the farm's maximum capacity based on the available quail cages in the area. The daily production of eggs from 15,000 quails is 10,000, with 15% of the rejects (crack and abnormal) and 10-30 pieces eaten by the farm's dogs. Some areas of the farm have not yet been turned to quail farming. Production Process Every morning, the farm worker collects all the eggs from the cages and places them in the basket; they simply use a dipper to collect the eggs. After that, he cleans the quail feeder and drinkers, then feed the quails and opens the drip to deliver water to the farm's automatic drinker. Ad libitum feeding is used on the farm. Most of the time, the farm suffers from a lack of feed supply due to the feed company's terms. If the quail are not given adequate nutrition on a daily basis, it has a significant impact on their performance. (Exhibit 8 - Operations Process) Mr. Soro visits the farm after contacting purchasers to check on the work of his farm workers, and most of the time he notices that the quail drinker is dirty and there is no water. After the inspection, the farm owner and farm workers sort the eggs, removing break eggs and abnormal eggs before placing all the eggs in a box and delivering them to market. (Exhibit 9- Post harvest handling/Processing)  MARKETING MANAGEMENT Product & Price The main product of Nek Nek Egg Trading is quail eggs, with culled quails that aren't prolific in egg production serving as a secondary source of income. The eggs are then sorted and placed in a box with 100 quail eggs each box, with a price range of 110-130 pesos depending on market prices while the price of culled quails is 18 pesos each. The box containing the quail eggs is unlabeled, and portions of it are distorted. Place of Distribution The farm's products are sold directly at the owner's house in front of his farm, where buyers who prefer to pick their own order can do so, or the owner may enable them to pick their own eggs on the farm. Estrada is also used to deliver the products. Mr. Soro delivers his items to most of his buyers at the san jose city public market, umingan public market, lupao, and san quintin public markets on a daily basis. They pick it up at his house for his big buyers, who is from Jaen and will buy 2000 boxes per week and also Mr. Romeo Madulid is one of his big buyers. Target eggs for the Market Mr. Soro's first sale in selling his first harvest at the market was not easy, and he was frequently ignored. But he did not give up; he returned to the markets time and time until he eventually found stores prepared to support and trust his product. As a result, when his product becomes popular in many public markets, the supply of his egg is insufficient to fulfill demand. Every day, he pledges to supply 2000 eggs to the San Jose City Public Market, 1000 eggs to Lupao, 2000 eggs to San Quintin, and 3000 eggs to the Umingin Public Market. Aside from that, he needs to save eggs for his big customers from Jaen and his friend Romeo Madulid. Mr. Soro estimates that he is short 10,000 eggs weekly to meet demand in his market. His technique for supplying his market is to call his cousins who are also quail egg producers and ask them to buy eggs to fulfill his market's demand. Sometime when he delivers eggs to his customers, he frequently encounters broken eggs, so even though the supply of eggs is adequate, it is severely deficient due to this circumstance. Promotion Mr. Soro did not use social media, flyers, or tarpaulin to begin selling his quail eggs; instead, he simply went to the market and asked the vendors if they wanted to buy or try his quail eggs. Because it is difficult to enter the market, Mr. Soro used the consignment technique to at least position his eggs to market, and through word of mouth, the products became popular. He offered free delivery.  FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT Nek Nek Egg Trading began with a 500,000.00 start-up capital. This money will cover the costs of converting his piggery farm to a quail farm and the purchase of additional raw materials for his quail egg business. According to Mr. Soro, 60 % of each box of his quail eggs will be expenses, with the remaining 40% being the farm's profit. EXHIBIT Quail Saves Me :A Case Story of How RLS Piggery Farm turns into Nek Nek Egg Trading EXHIBIT 1 RLS Piggery Farm Quail Saves Me :A Case Story of How RLS Piggery Farm turns into Nek Nek Egg Trading EXHIBIT 2 Confirmed African Swine Fever Cases as of March 2020 Source : CNN Philippines Quail Saves Me :A Case Story of How RLS Piggery Farm turns into Nek Nek Egg Trading EXHIBIT 3 Nek Nek Quail Farm Quail Saves Me :A Case Story of How RLS Piggery Farm turns into Nek Nek Egg Trading EXHIBIT 4 The owner Quail Saves Me :A Case Story of How RLS Piggery Farm turns into Nek Nek Egg Trading EXHIBIT 5 Feeds Storage of the Farm Quail Saves Me :A Case Story of How RLS Piggery Farm turns into Nek Nek Egg Trading EXHIBIT 6 Location of Quail Farm Quail Saves Me :A Case Story of How RLS Piggery Farm turns into Nek Nek Egg Trading EXHIBIT 7 Location of Quail Farm Quail Saves Me :A Case Story of How RLS Piggery Farm turns into Nek Nek Egg Trading EXHIBIT 8 Operations Process Cleaning of Feeding of Collection of Quail Feeder Quail (Ad Eggs and Drinker libitum) Source : Owner of the Farm Quail Saves Me :A Case Story of How RLS Piggery Farm turns into Nek Nek Egg Trading EXHIBIT 9 Post Harvest Handling/Processing Quail Saves Me :A Case Story of How RLS Piggery Farm turns into Nek Nek Egg Trading EXHIBIT 10 DTI Registration Quail Saves Me :A Case Story of How RLS Piggery Farm turns into Nek Nek Egg Trading EXHIBIT 11 Other Concern Lodging of farm worker Dogs in the Farm Packaging of the farm