New Pedigree Farm for Betagro
THAILAND - Betagro Group, one of the nation's leading integrated agribusiness companies, has opened a new pedigree pig farm at a cost of 190 million baht (THB) to support the growth of its hygienic pork business.The new facility, which the company says is the biggest advanced SPF (specific-pathogen-free) pig breeding farm ever built in Thailand, would enhance its capacity to supply breeders for its S-Pure brand pork processing plants and frozen processed food manufacturing plants, reports Bangkok Post.
The farm is aimed at tapping the growing demand for hygienic pork products in both local and international markets - especially Japan - according to Kriengmas Punchai, senior vice-president of swine integration of Betagro Group.
The farm is fully SPF-certified, meaning pigs are raised in a controlled, hygienic environment without the use of antibiotics, resulting in quality, natural pink pork meat, he said.
Located on a 518-hectare plot in Lop Buri, the group's production hub, the farm has the capacity to breed 4,200 pedigree pigs and is able to provide individual farmers and contract farms with up to 100,000 pigs per year.
The investment marks another big step in quality development to ensure swine are free from disease, Mr Kriengmas said.
Thailand's pig industry has a reputation among buyers in foreign markets for dubious meat sanitation requirements, according to Bangkok Post. To overcome the problem, the company brought in technology and know-how by forming a number of joint-venture companies with Japanese food leaders such as Ajinomoto and Sumitomo to produce high quality raw meat and processed pork.
Betagro currently has 45,000 breeders in its wholly operated farms and contracted farms, and 350,000 breeders being raised by farmers hired by contract.
The domestic demand for pork products tends to increase as a result of rising prices of substitute products. The hygienic pork product segment, in particular, has high growth potential thanks to rising demand both from domestic consumers and international markets such as Japan, he said.
The outlook in the domestic market, in particular, looks very promising because the price of pork products continues to adjust as processors introduce a series of new products to the market.
He said the pork business this year would add about THB3 billion in revenue to the group. Betagro's total revenue, mainly from the export of chicken and animal feed sales, is estimated at more than THB40 billion by end of this year, concludes the newspaper report.