AN INSPIRATIONAL TRIP TO HANOI, VIETNAM

Little did I know of Hanoi, Vietnam. I know its not far from the Philippines and that they produce much rice that at some point the Philippines imports rice from them. It's an amazing experience for me to go to Hanoi and watch how they do their free-range chicken farming. Although I went there as two personality. First, as a free-range chicken farmer & general manager of my company, Pamora Farm, and secondly as the president of PAFPAI (Phil. Asso. of Free-range Poultry Advocates, Inc.). I may say neither personality did learn from that trip :)

Day 1 - Seminar!

I receive an email on October 1st from ASVELIS Vietnam director/veterinarian Dr. Patrice Gautier, who happens to be a French guy :) like my partner :) regarding the final workshop of the STOP AI Project with USAID. Although I was already  in communication with him in mid February of this year for the ILDEX fair, also was in Hanoi, Vietnam which unfortunately for me, I didn't had the chance to visit. Then we meet in Manila in early June 2010 when he visited the Philippines for meetings with certain organizations for the Stop AI Program as well. 

I am very excited to visit Vietnam, so I did. Call airlines for direct flight Manila-Hanoi but none... So quite a long trip Manila-Hongkong-Hanoi :) It was great though, just waiting the time to board... no rush... walking.... window shopping... :-D and meeting other Pinoys in transits... :)

In this picture, Dr. Patrice Gautier on his welcome remarks. 

Day 1 of the USAID STOP AI Final Workshop

October 13, 2010 - Hilton Hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam

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At first I told myself, what am I gonna do there? But since, I haven't had any vacation yet for this year, not even a single day :( I thought this could be a great opportunity for me. To hit two birds with one stone! Learn & Relax! I did! Worth every penny that my company paid for my trip!

Me and my beautiful smile :-D

Great to experience Hanoi's 1,000 years Anniversary!

Me & Mr. Nguyen Quoc Kiet, one of the many Cooperatives' Director

Day-1: USAID STOP AI Program Final Workshop

October 13, 2010 - Hilton Hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam

After the seminar, Me and all ASVELIS (Asian Veterinary & Livestock Services) Team

with USAID, DAI, Cooperatives & Vietnam Agriculture Sector representatives

Picture! Picture!

I did learn many things during my 4 days trip to Hanoi, Vietnam. I learn that they are new in free-range chicken farming. Only at second year of production. People there are not that particular with dressed poultry meat, yet. Vietnamese are buying more live birds than dressed. Thus the USAID STOP AI Program is all about. Lessen, if not prevent the live birds in the market to prevent immediate spread of the HPAI (highly Pathogen Avian Influenza) in case there is. 

During the seminar at Hilton Hotel, Naturally Vietnam Free-range Chicken was introduced! People, farmers and the Asvelis team involve in teaching the free-range chicken method to vietnamese had presented on power points their experiences, lesson learnt, future plans, and marketing concerns. It was a fruitful day for everybody. Plus...we had a great lunch eating free-range chicken and duck meat! SARAP....

Day 2 - Field Trips!

Day 2: Field Trip in Free-range Chicken Farms & Slaughter House! We didn't see that much, as farmers are raising only few birds. 200 the most. They are just starting on marketing dressed poultry meat. Free-range chicken farms are being monitored/check by Asvelis team. Great system! Headed by Dr. Patrice Gautier, Asvelis team are there to teach and guide farmers on how to grow properly and dressed hygienically the poultry products. Our visits is an experience for everybody. The international delegates and vietnamese visitors were divided into two groups. Most of the foreign nationals, including me, went to Bac Giang distric, a two hours and half drive from Hanoi. Most of the Vietnamese went to the other farm tour that requires travel time of four hours one way :) But indeed, both farm tours worth the visits! Congrats again to the efforts on organization of the Asvelis team!

 Day 3 - Round Table Forum

 Me presenting the Pamora Farm Free-range Chicken 10 Years operation :)

I was asked by Dr. Gautier to make a power point presentation regarding our Pamora Farm 10 years free-range chicken operation. About the challenges, and how we deal with those, as well as the evolution of our production/business. 

I did it! I may say, I'm proud of myself. Though before that day and the time of my presentation to the international delegates, I texted my husband and I told him how nervous I am! He simply said to me, "You know you can do it". And yes, I did it!

I was able to share to Vietnamese people our experience and somehow I guess I inspired them with how far we are now :) Great feeling!

Once again, thank you Vietnam!

 I hope to visit again Hanoi, soon... :)

PCAFI-FREE RANGE POULTRY COMMITTEE

October 07, 2010

At Day-1 of AGRILINK 2010, The PCAFI - Philippine Chamber of Agriculture & Food, Inc., its 54 Committees' Chairpersons, headed by PCAFI President, Col. Alejandro Teves Escaño, took their OATH OF OFFICE inducted by the Department of Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.

I am one of the Chairpersons :) As I am the President of the PAFPAI - Philippine Association of Free-range Poultry Advocates, Inc., the good Col. Escaño designated me as chair. Thank you for the trust!

 In this Photo: 

PCAFI President Alejandro Escaño & PCAFI Committees' Chairpersons

FRLD President Antonio Roces (beside Mic stand) & FRLD Directors 

and 

D.A. Secretary Proceso Alcala inducting the Oath (at microphone stand)

Yours truly, in the middle, and other Chairpersons 

are busy and seriously reading reading our oath of office.

Welcome to PCAFI!

AGRIBUSINESS SEASON ONCE AGAIN...

October 7-9, 2010

World Trade Center

Pasay City, Philippines

Welcome!

AGRILINK / FOODLINK / AQUALINK

17th International Agribusiness Trade Exhibition & Seminars!

PAMORA FARM

Booth No. 99

Near the Special Setting Area

BUSINESS WORLD

Arts & Leisure

Posted on 05:23 PM, September 15, 2010

BY JOHANNA D. POBLETE, Senior Reporter

Born free-range

Arestina Morados-Papillon, Pamora Farm, Inc. general manager, can castrate 100 roosters in a day, changing scalpels after every 25 hapless cockerels.

The wielder of the scalpel has to be very skilled so as not to cause any bleeding, and if a bit of the testes remains, the bird is liable to become a "slip," rather than obtain the desired characteristics of a wattle-less "capon" (as the bird is called post-surgery).

Ms. Morados-Papillon is said to work unerringly where veteri-narians fear to slice.

The lady has strong arms, a cheeky grin, and tends to call her husband and partner Gerard Papillon "a bloody Frenchman" when cranky with hunger. (She also jokes about bringing out her scalpel when crossed, which is probably why Mr. Papillon -- who grew up in a Bordeaux farm and knows who rules the roost -- refers to her as the "boss.")

GROWING BUSINESS

The couple (whose surnames make up the name Pamora) met in 1996, and in the course of their courtship discovered an interest in free-range animal husbandry.

The principle of free-range method is to allow the animals to live at their instinctual behavior in a reasonably natural way instead of being contained in a cage like in commercial broiler production where the chickens are forced to grow abnormally fast.

Ms. Morados-Papillon took her first seminar in 1999, intending that the farm she established the next year in Pidigan, Abra would be a source of income for her parents.

By 2002, Pamora was producing 200 units of whole dressed chicken every month, and she had to take a short course in orchard management at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños to be able to manage the farm full-time. By 2008, they were producing 3,000 units monthly.

On Oct. 7-9, at the 17^th International Agribusiness Exhibition and Seminars (Agri-Link 2010), Pamora will be introducing its new line of cold cuts. With a brand-new 420 sq.m. dressing plant, the farm expects to increase its product quota this year; in five years’ time, the couple intends to produce 20,000 whole dressed chickens every month.

EUROPEAN STANDARDS

Pamora Farm raises a combination of Rhode Island Red and New Hampshire Red chickens, in what’s referred to as Quality F1 or first generation offspring (in other words, they are the first hatchlings from the parent chickens back in France).

The animal husbandry Pamora practices is patterned after the "Label Rouge" (Red Label) of France -- that is, having the chickens ranging for a longer period to achieve the optimum natural chicken taste, firmer meat quality, and much healthier poultry meat with less fat content.

Chicks are kept for the first 21 days inside humane housing with brooding facilities, vaccinations on Day 22 are nasal drops or eyedrops rather than injections, herbal medicines are utilized rather than antibiotics (or in cases when unavoidable, the withdrawal period is doubled, so as to ensure all trace residue is eliminated from the meat), and feed is selected very carefully. By Day 81 (versus 28-35 days for the commercial broilers), the chickens are ready to be dressed.

Mortality for free-range production is of course higher, pegged at 3%-7% depending on the season against 1% for the very controlled commercial broiler production; but deaths are caused by heatstroke and stress rather than disease, and despite the recent El Niño, Pamora managed to keep mortality at 3%-4%.

The payoff is final product quality. Ms. Morados-Papillon noted that the live weight of Pamora free-range chicken is around 1.8 kilos in the summer to 1.9 or 2 kilos during the rainy season; the dressed chicken reportedly retains more of its meat weight (75.4%) after cooking, rather than registering a drop due to water and fat loss.

IT’S A BIG BIRD

Pamora Farm now has an enviable product roster, including spring chickens (400 g-800 g), regular chickens (1 kilogram and above), "special" chickens (2 kg and above, aged a minimum of 120 days and fed with yellow corn and milk), as well as the capon (minimum of 3 kg, aged five-to-six months versus the three-to-four months in France, and fed 45 kg of yellow corn and 10 liters of milk in its lifetime).

All dressed chicken and chic-ken meat by-products are processed in the Poultry Dressing Plant owned and operated solely by Pamora Farm, accredited by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) and certified Good Manufacturing Practices. Pamora Farm products are all inspected, passed, registered and certified by the Bureau of Food and Drugs and NMIS.

Regular broilers sell (per kilogram) for P240 wholesale and P325 retail, special broilers sell for P315 wholesale and P425 retail, whereas each capon sells for P650 wholesale and P875 retail. When stuffed with foie gras (duck liver) and chestnuts, and oven-baked or roasted by Restaurant Cicou’s chef Cyril Soenen, each substitute turkey sells for P16,000 apiece on Easter, Thanksgiving or usually Christmas.

GRADE AA POULTRY

Capon production -- particularly within a free-range system, a movement initiated 30 years ago -- is a French tradition, and nearly as controversial as the method of producing foie gras. These days, it is a rare delicacy, offered seasonally in France (and banned in some countries, like the UK).

Last year, only 200-300 capons were sold by Pamora Farm in the Philippines; 20 of those were redistributed by Mr. Soenen, who swears by the tender, flavorful meat (because of the high fat content, Mr. Papillon describes the carcass as "marbled," like the poultry version of Kobe beef) .

Pamora also produces seven kinds of bottled pâtè and confit (a combination of chicken breast, gizzard and/or liver) from recipes made by Mr. Papillon’s grandmother and eggs in a lovely pale brown color (P75 wholesale, P100 retail per tray). An organic vegetable garden provides for the needs of the farm’s inhabitants and guests.

WORTH EVERY PESO?

At the press lunch at Restaurant Cicou on Sept. 14, one was treated not only to a degustation asiette of Pamora egg -- soft-boiled egg with trouffle moilette on the side, aspic of poached egg with a confit of Pamora gizzard and onion cream on top, and steamed egg with sea urchin and green pea foam, julienned red cabbage on top -- but also roasted Pamora free-range chicken, confit of garlic and shallots, mashed potatoes, and a fricassee of mushrooms and asparagus.

Noticeably, the yolk of the egg was a clear, golden yellow, and solid, not so easily broken. The meat of the roast, handled by an expert chef, was tender, juicy, and with a flavor profile that didn’t need to be enhanced beyond the basic salt and pepper. The skin was thin and crisp and golden brown, the solid bone yielded a healthy red marrow (and the pale-white meat also had a milky quality to it, which could have been an overactive imagination working, as the bird was fed with milk.)

For over a decade now, the four-hectare Pamora Farm has protected a reputation for producing high-quality free-range chic-ken. For her efforts, specifically for promoting French agriculture systems in the country Ms. Morados-Papillon was conferred the rank of Chevalier de L’Ordre du Merite Agricole (Order of Merit for Agriculture, Grade of Knight) in 2008 -- the first Filipino to be so honored by the French embassy.

The farm supplies the deli shops, supermarkets and hypermarkets, and high-end restaurants. The market is niche, with the bulk of production going to Manila, but the farm also supplies other cities, such as Cebu. In 2009, it earned P7 million in gross sales; this year, it expects to earn around P8 million.

For inquiries, call (02) 759-2678. For more information, visit www.pamorafarm.com.

AMARANTH

Better know in Tagalog as Kolitis or in Ilocano as Kalunay.

Ms. Mara Pardo de Tavera, the president of OPTA and the organizer of Legazpi Sunday Market in Makati, told me about Amaranth two years ago. Not knowing that that strange name of legume to my ears are abundantly growing in our fields in Abra. We feed them to our native black pigs :-D called "bin-ugbog".

Amaranth is a good source of natural vitamins such as vitamin A, B6, C, K, folate and riboflavin, and minerals including calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and zinc.