Poultry farming business is quite popular with many Filipinos because it is one of the easiest businesses to establish for which they have a ready market. Most people are generally able to succeed as poultry farmers because it does not require any specialized skills. However, the challenge for most people is generally scaling up the business from a subsistence level to a commercial scale that generates very good income.
The key to success in any business is your ability to market and sell. If you can convince people to buy your products and know how to reach the right people who will buy them, then success in business is always guaranteed.
Tiers of Markets for Your Poultry that You Should Focus on:-
- Farmer to Trader Market: This is probably how most Filipinos sell their poultry products. Farm gate sales are generally a low-hanging fruit and allows the farmer to generate regular income from their poultry products. It is not necessarily sustainable and may not always work if you are planning to push a large volume of poultry products to the marketplace.
- Farmer to Retailer Market: This is where you sell your poultry products to the small and big retailers such as supermarkets and even restaurants.
- Farmer to Farmer: If you are a large scale farmer or breeder, you can always sell your poultry products to other farmers in your locality.
- Farmer to Cooperatives: This is always the case with the contract farming model in the Philippines. You could be part of a grower group or a contract farming concern where you get support and technical help and you in turn sell your poultry products to the contract poultry farming in the Philippines. In the Philippines, the vertical integration of the poultry industry is highly developed and some of the most successful farmers are often members of a contract farming concern.
- Farmer to Buyer Group: This is not a very well developed market in the Philippines but it could work for niche markets such as organic poultry farming, native chicken farming or free range chicken farming in the Philippines. In this case, health-conscious buyers can pool resources together and purchase poultry products from a reliable supplier. This will save money and also allows them to benefit from the economies of scale due to bigger discounts and lower transport costs when spread out among a pool of buyers.
Steps to Marketing Your Poultry Products to the Right Market in the Philippines
Here are the three main steps that you need to undertake to market your poultry products to the right market:-
Start with Proper Research and Analysis
Know your market. Before you even begin raising your chickens, you must have determined that the market for your poultry products is available in your locality. There are certain advantages that come with sticking in your territory: not only is the cost of transportation low but you can also reach the market faster when your products are still fresh. It is not easy to transport live chickens over long distance. The most important thing is to map out your market based on your poultry business model. For example, will you sell to buyer groups, retailers, supermarkets, restaurants or in the local market?
Implementation
Price your products accordingly and begin reaching out to your target market. You can create a website where potential buyers can order chickens directly from you. If you receive a phone inquiry from your customers, note down the phone number and email and use it to get in touch with your customers whenever you are about to sell or harvest your poultry products.
In the age of digital media, don’t forget to use Facebook and Twitter to market your poultry products. There are lots of people searching for poultry products via Facebook and if they find you there already, you can always generate extra leads to push the sales for your poultry products.
Build a Listing or Database
Most importantly, build a listing or database of all the customers that have ever contacted you. This is important as it will give you a ready market that is only a phone call or email away.