Small producer management of broiler processing for profit maximization. The American farm school experience.

Abstract

This dissertation paper was aimed to investigate and find out how the Small producer of broiler processing could manage its operation for profit maximization in respect to the large and intensive broiler producers. In order to find out the viability of a small scale producer, an example from a real small scale producing company, The American Farm School (AFS) of Thessaloniki, Greece was examined where the broiler production operation was run by students of the division of the American Farm School which is the Perrotis College, as a part of their Industrial Work Experience II. The main scope of the research was to allocate the fundamental and essential parameters that indicate the successfulness of a small scale broiler producer, which are by far the proper feed and feeding ingredients rations, management of water, air flow, temperature, lightning and housing. These parameters lead to the creation of good quality meat of broiler chickens which has become one of the cheapest substitutes of protein intake. Thereafter, in order to utilize and put in practise properly all the mentioned above, a small scale farmer has to compete with the price for chickens which will enable him to cover expenses and costs for the whole operation, create niche for his product which will consequently make him profitable on a small scale. The example of AFS indicates what small scale producing farms such as this one had taken into account and succeeds to be profitable in respect to the launching of broiler production and successfully perceived and accepted by the consumers at a certain price of their chicken. In order to complete the investigation the method of qualitative and quantitative research was conducted which was consisted of distribution of questionnaires, surveys and a sensory analysis in respect to the broilers produced from the AFS and other competitive brands from the Greek market. All the results that lead to the findings and conclusions of the research were analyzed by using the SPSS version 18 software (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). The findings suggested that the broiler meat is widely accepted by consumers as a good and alternative source of protein intake, and moreover, people seem to be willing to pay higher price for chicken meat if they have the assurance from their producer that the chickens are raised in good conditions. The AFS favours the fact that their consumers have bonded their trust towards to quality and healthy products which made the introduction of broilers to go on a smooth phase. However, in order for a small scale to be profitable while managing the costs of the operations so that the chicken product would have the quality that was expected, was a very crucial aspect in which the AFS dealt with the most optimum approach of allocating their resources. This could be an example and a model of illustrating how small scale broiler producers could be managing their costs of the whole operation.