Bromark to spread wings further north

The Broiler Farmers Marketing Co-operative Limited (Bromark), is planning to expand its presence across the country in the next three to four years.

Bromark is planning to start its operations in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir during the current calendar year.

Speaking to Business Standard, K G Anand, general manager, Venkateshwara Hatcheries Private Limited, said, "The co-operative wants to bring more outlets under its fold and achieve its twin objectives of ensuring remunerative prices to farmers and also a fair price to the consumer."

At Bromark, every chick is raised under the supervision of Venkateshwara Hatcheries and Venky India Limited on a strict diet of corn and soya. These birds are picked up when they are six to seven weeks old to ensure that a consumer gets best chicken.

Bromark currently has 1,000 outlets across the country, out of which 700 outlets are in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. During the last one year, Bromark has expanded its presence to other cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune.

According to Anand, around 70 per cent of the chicken sold in the city is from different Bromark outlets and is catching up in the other centres as well.

Bromark has stipulated stringent norms for the outlets to follow and maintain clean, hygienic slaughtering practices. Anand said that Bromark was also encouraging setting up mechanised slaughter facilities. It costs around Rs 1.3 lakh and the banks had also agreed to provide loans for the purpose.

He said Andhra Pradesh, with 1.8 crore of broilers per month, was the leading producer and also one of the leading consumers in the country. However, sales took a hit during the early part of the current fiscal due to drought and rise in the prices feed ingredients.

"The consumption had gone down by nearly 50 per cent in the rural areas but from September onwards the sales have improved and the industry is growing. The sales of broilers have increased 15 per cent and in the layers segment there has been a growth of around eight per cent," he said.

On the export front, Anand said that India has an advantage and must capitalise on the potential in the processed chicken segment.

Speaking about Venkateshwara Hatcheries, he said that the company expects a 22 to 25 per cent increase in its turnover to Rs 2,200 crore as compared to Rs 1,800 crore last year.

The company currently has a 90 per cent marketshare in layers and around 70 per cent marketshare in broilers.

Anand said that the company was also planning to export the animal health products and poultry vaccines that the company manufactures. "Though we used to export earlier, it was only in small qualities to the various Saarc countries. However, now that the products are in great demand we plant to increase the exports to these countries," he said.

The exports of various products of the animal health products division and Ventri Biologicals, the vaccine division of Venkateshwara Hatcheries Limited, had recorded a turnover of Rs 500 crore and in the next three years the company expects the divisions to contribute around Rs 1,000 crore.

The animal health products division has more than 35 products, which include vitamin premixes, therapeutic products, toxin binders, and dewormers. The vaccine division has 34 products. Venkateshwara Hatcheries, which currently has 400 associates under its wings, plans to add another 30 during the current calendar year.