Kalpetta: After successfully entering the third year of its launch, Malabar Meat brand, a farmers’ business venture, through the CPM controlled Brahmagiri Development Society (BDS) is all set to open 300 all-product outlets with farmers’ products across Malabar. It will have a digital tracking facility for consumers to know the origin of the wide range of products including beef products. Registered under the department of animal husbandry attached to the agriculture department, BDS with a capacity to process 45 tonnes of meat per day, had a turnover of Rs 7.65 crore last fiscal and is eyeing an ambitious turnover of Rs 55 crore this year.
The consumer can know the origin of the product- that is, the name of the farmer who produced it, the place, its qualities etc., through the website. On the new market intervention concept, P Krishna Prasad, chairman of BDS, told DC that starting in 2014, the initiative had proved its mettle by sourcing and marketing meat products and had given a profit share to farmers. “We had then mobilized Rs 12 crore from the farmers themselves as a revolving fund from which we have returned Rs 7 crore”, Mr Prasad said. On the new market intervention, he pointed out that normally a consumer went to a meat trader to buy meat. But from these new outlets, consumers can buy all farm products sourced by the society directly from farmers and a share of the profit from the sales would go back to the farmer.
“For example we are sourcing jaggery from a farmer, Ramesh from Mandya, who follows bio-farming methods, for Rs 45. Quality jaggery is priced at around Rs 85 in the market whereas we sell it for Rs 75 as the society takes only a marginal profit. From the profit a share will go back to the farmer while the rest will go to a risk fund as well as the operational fund”, he said. So the farmer, consumer and the people’s initiative also would be benefitted in the deal. Consumers can access the details of the farmer. Malabar Meat has 85 exclusive outlets and the new outlets would be one with all kinds of consumables and edibles straight from the farms. Owning the largest public sector multi-species public sector abattoir, the turnover of the society is expected to cross the ‘Rs 10 crore’ mark in this fiscal.
