POULTRY grower Cargill-Joy Poultry Meats Production, Inc. (C-Joy) is aiming to increase its annual production in the next two to three years to bolster its operations, according to its country head.
“We have plans to increase the 50 million annual capacity, although I cannot divulge [the figure] right now. But we have a plan,” said Mija Darlene Cachapero, who was recently appointed as C-Joy’s new country director.
“We will increase it gradually in the next two to three years,” she said in an interview on Wednesday.
C-Joy is a joint venture between Cargill Philippines, Inc. and listed food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC). Its poultry processing facility in Sto. Tomas, Batangas province has a production capacity of 50 million birds yearly. The plant produces raw and marinated chicken products for JFC brands such as Jollibee, Chowking, and Mang Inasal.
According to Ms. Cachapero, the planned production increase is in line with the industry’s projected growth, which is pegged at 4-5%.
“By growing these birds, we are able to turn them into chicken products that are fed to Filipino tables. We are basically an integrator,” she added.
Meanwhile, Ms. Cachapero said that there are no plans yet for C-Joy to establish another facility in addition to its Batangas plant.
She also disclosed that C-Joy has no plans to employ more workers. C-Joy currently employs over 1,200 workers.
“We don’t have plans yet to expand our facility. Although we have toll partners where we are able to expand our capacity without having to stand up our own facility,” Ms. Cachapero said.
Cargill Philippines is the local unit of the American food company Cargill, which is engaged in agriculture, animal nutrition, bio-industrial, starches and sweeteners, and texturizers and emulsifiers. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave