Raising the bar for poultry

Business Times 13 Jul 10;

NICHOLAS YEO reports on a homegrown firm whose rearing technique includes playing Mozart to chickens as they roam the compound

POULTRY rearing is hardly an industry that one would associate with land-scarce Singapore, yet a homegrown company has defied the assumption that agriculture is a sunset sector by re-inventing itself.

Kee Song Brothers Poultry Industries Pte Ltd gave a new twist to the chicken commodity through the launch of 'Sakura' chickens a couple of years back.

The discovery of the tenderer, lower fat 'Sakura' chicken came about partly through the help of NTUC FairPrice. A professor from Kyoto approached NTUC FairPrice with the technology to rear a US breed of chickens. At that point, Kee Song was the only poultry farmer with a rearing and processing facility so naturally, NTUC FairPrice paired Kee Song and the professor up. The process of developing the product took about two years and cost RM1.5 million ($650,000).

Prior to this, Kee Song had already thought about improving the quality of the average chicken.

'We wanted to differentiate ourselves from the market,' said managing director Ong Kian San. 'The older people were saying that the quality of chicken available today had dropped, and was unlike those available in the past. We wanted to regain that standard.

'As we owned our own rearing farm, we could control the type of chicken the farm reared. This was unlike our competitors, who contracted from professional farms. This gave us our edge,' he said, of the company's farms in the Yong Peng region of Johor, Malaysia. These farms, scattered around the area, add up to a total of 200 hectares.

What makes the Sakura chickens special is the rearing technique.

'Our chickens live in ventilated areas and they get to listen to Mozart's symphonies whilst roaming the compound!' said Mr Ong, emphasising the quality of life for the chickens. 'This way, the chickens will also build up their immunity and thus fend off infections that may come our way. In any case, there's no contact with wild birds and we are in strict compliance with AVA (Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority) regulations.'

The chickens are also given a lactobacillus compound in their feed. In addition, lactobacillus is sprayed around the compound. Because of the tender quality of the meat and lower fat content, Sakura chickens are able to command a price of about $8.60 a bird, which is about 30 per cent more than for regular chickens.

Sales of the Sakura chickens have been encouraging, which prompted the company to introduce its latest range, the Imperial Cordyceps chickens. These are fed with cordycepin which is derived from the cordyceps fungus. At $16.80 a bird, these chickens are considered the top of the range because of the health benefits associated with cordyceps, which is regarded as immunity-boosting in traditional Chinese medicine, as well as having 27 times more collagen content than a regular chicken.

According to Mr Ong, Sakura and imperial cordyceps chickens now account for about 50 per cent of his company's total sales, with the remaining contributed by regular chickens branded under the 'Lucky' name. They are distributed only at NTUC FairPrice supermarkets, wet markets and restaurants at the moment, but Mr Ong hopes to reach out to more markets as consumer awareness grows.

'People are getting converted; sales are picking up,' he said. 'People are beginning to appreciate the benefits of Sakura chicken. Our customers are more executives, those who are more health conscious.'

Currently, the Singapore production facility allows for 2,000 to 4,000 chickens to be processed per hour and sales have amounted to over 700,000 chickens a year. This makes up about 15 per cent of the market share locally, according to Mr Ong.

Kee Song's products are currently marketed by some advertisements but mostly by word-of-mouth. Kee Song also sponsors events connected to its products and holds cooking classes to demonstrate the best ways of using its products at various community centres.

'We believe the product should sell by itself; after customers have experienced the benefits, I trust they'll be converted.'

When asked about future plans, Mr Ong said: 'We intend to expand around Asia and in some parts of Europe.'

He noted that the Europeans prefer the breast meat of chicken; however, this is typically 'dry and tough'. But what sets the Sakura chicken apart is the tenderness of its breast meat.

'This is our selling point,' he said.

What needs to be done now is to obtain an export licence and to ensure that all the standards and regulations are met.

As for China, 'it's a huge market; we are now looking at ways to expand there', said Mr Ong. 'We are open to joint ventures, opening our own farm there or franchising our technique. I believe there's room in the Chinese market for our products.'

'Of course we're worried about the possibility of infringement of our patent, but China is too big a market to ignore.' he said. 'Just look for a ring around the chicken's ankle. That's our trademark!'

Laying the foundations for growth
Business Times 13 Jul 10;

KEE Song Brothers was founded in 1970 by Ong Kian San's father. Back then it was a small operation where father and sons sold the chickens they reared to wet market vendors. In 1987, the operation was incorporated as Kee Song Brothers Poultry Industries Pte Ltd. Since then there has been no looking back and the company constantly repositions itself to suit the times, employing new technology through biotechnology to enhance its poultry products.

Despite this active approach in updating technology, the corporate structure remains traditionally family-orientated. The chairman is Mr Ong's older brother, Kee Song, after whom the company is named. The director in charge of Malaysian operations is another older brother, Kian Huat, and the finance director is his older sister, Yong Xian.

Today the staff count stands in excess of 300, from five over 30 years ago. Still, the company did face some challenges. The biggest came in 2006, when there was a huge flood at the rearing farm in Yong Peng, Johor. 'We almost gave up!' said Mr Ong. The flood cost the company thousands of dollars in losses. But Kee Song persevered and now it is reaping the fruits of its labour. 'We have about 15 per cent of Singapore's chicken market share - one of the largest today,' Mr Ong said.