Mr. Giap Quy Cuong: Bringing Yen The hill chickens to "fly" far

BAC NINH - Traveling a lot and witnessing his hometown people struggling to find outlets for Yen The hill chicken products, Mr. Giap Quy Cuong (born in 1983), residing in Tan Yen commune (Bac Ninh) told himself that he had to do something to change. Thinking and doing, he quietly took each step and reaped the "sweet fruit", becoming the one who spread wings, bringing Yen The hill chicken to many places.

Leave the city to return to the countryside to raise chickens

Although he is a livestock and veterinary engineer, Giap Quy Cuong started his career in business when he decided to open a store to introduce and supply industrial sewing machines in Quang Ninh province (in 2007). With his dynamism, after two years of entering this field, he has built up many relationships, a large number of customers, and earned tens of millions of dong in profit each month. In early 2015, while going to a market in Ha Long city (old), he saw the poultry stalls bustling with customers, while Yen The hill chicken products were not known by many people and were difficult to sell, he told himself that he had to do something to help farmers.

Mr. Giap Quy Cuong (right) , Director of Yen The Green Agriculture Cooperative, grasps the livestock situation at associated households.

In 2015, he started bringing the first batches of feathered chickens from Yen The to Quang Ninh for consumption. The chickens were of good quality, the meat was delicious, many people started to know and order his chickens. “From the first baskets of chickens, the consumption increased, many people started calling me “Chicken Cuong”. From then on, I realized that I had a connection with chickens and decided to leave the city and return to the countryside. In fact, when I decided to give up the job that many people dreamed of to “follow” chickens, many people, including my parents, opposed me, thinking that it was a risky, high-risk decision. Fortunately, my wife supported me,” Mr. Cuong happily said.

At the end of 2015, Mr. Cuong and his wife liquidated all their stores in Quang Ninh to move to Phon Xuong town, Yen The district (old), now Yen The commune, to rent a space to open a chicken purchasing point. He spent all his savings after 8 years of business to buy garden land to develop the chicken flock, and at the same time, cooperated with local households to expand the scale. Although he is a livestock and veterinary engineer, because he had not applied it in practice for many years, he felt that his knowledge was gradually fading. Therefore, before officially entering the new profession, Mr. Cuong spent nearly a month visiting households that had successfully raised Yen The hill chickens to learn from their experiences. When local professional agencies opened training courses, he attended, both to equip himself with more knowledge and techniques in livestock farming and to have more "professional friends". During the days of staying in the garden with the people, he realized that most people raised livestock based on experience, and had not applied technical advances to improve productivity and product quality. Due to the lack of a stable market, when chickens are sold, farmers have to depend on traders, prices are unstable, and many times they suffer losses. He goes to each associated household to guide them on techniques and breeding processes in the direction of VietGAP and biosafety. In addition to the Quang Ninh market, he connects with a number of traders in two major cities: Hanoi and Hai Phong. "Once the output is found, all products of the associated households are brought to the place by traders, with stable prices according to the commitment from the beginning. This is considered the "key" to opening up opportunities for farmers to get rich," Mr. Cuong confided.

With stable output, the couple began to borrow and rent more land to expand the scale of farming. In 2017, Mr. Cuong and a number of enthusiastic farmers decided to establish Yen The Green Agriculture Cooperative with 7 members, with him as the Director. This was an important turning point in the journey to affirm and bring the Yen The hill chicken brand far and wide.

"Sweet fruit" with 10 OCOP products

Immediately after its establishment, Yen The Green Agriculture Cooperative signed a contract with 34 households in the communes of Dong Tam, Tien Thang, Dong Lac (the same old Yen The district). To participate in the association, households must meet certain requirements such as: Each household must have 2-3 barns, the distance between the barns must be ensured to avoid disease transmission; large hills and gardens, the barns must be left empty for at least 1-2 months after sale, lime sprinkled, disinfected... In return, households will be guided by the Cooperative to raise livestock according to technical processes, have books to monitor and manage; be provided with food and committed to output.

With a systematic and scientific approach, after 8 years of establishment, from 34 initial members, Yen The Green Agriculture Cooperative has now expanded its association to 114 households, with a scale of 4 - 6 thousand commercial chickens/household/year; charter capital increased from 1.7 billion VND to more than 6 billion VND. Ms. Hoang Thi Hau, Hong Lac village (Yen The commune) said: “Previously, due to household-scale farming and low output, my family brought commercial chickens to local markets for consumption, with unstable prices. Since linking with the cooperative, my family has been supported with techniques, food and output, so I feel secure in raising them. It turns out that each year, selling 2 batches, each batch of about 2 thousand chickens, my family earns a profit of more than 100 million VND”.

Determining that only deep processing can increase product value, right from its establishment, Yen The Green Agriculture Cooperative invested in a slaughter and processing line. Then, in 2023, the unit invested more than 2 billion VND to install an automatic slaughter line and freeze cells. Along with investing in technology, Mr. Cuong directly went to facilities specializing in processing chicken products in many localities across the country to learn and gain experience. Up to now, along with feather chicken, Yen The Green Agriculture Cooperative has brought 12 deep-processed products to the market. Notably, from the first product recognized as 4-star OCOP (vacuum-packed chicken, 2019), up to now, Yen The Green Agriculture Cooperative has 9 more products recognized as 3-star OCOP, including: Chicken ham, chicken sausage, chicken jerky, dried chicken with lemon leaves, chicken floss, salted chicken, soy sauce steamed chicken, chicken wings, chicken eggs. On average, the Cooperative brings to market more than 1,000 feathered chickens every day and slaughters 300-500 for deep processing. In addition to traditional markets, the Cooperative's processed products are distributed and sold at large supermarket chains such as Winmart, Go! and agents, clean food stores in Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Bac Ninh... Each year, the Cooperative's revenue reaches nearly 20 billion VND, after deducting expenses, the profit is 1.6 - 1.8 billion VND.

“Along with research to have more new processed products from Yen The hill chicken, we are focusing on completing the documents to bring 2 products: Chicken breast, chicken feet to participate in the evaluation and classification of OCOP in the coming time. At the same time, we are focusing on improving the quality, completing the criteria to raise the vacuum-packed chicken product to 5 stars. At that time, Yen The hill chicken will "fly" further, towards the export goal", said Mr. Giap Quy Cuong.

 

Article and photos: Sy Quyet

Source: https://baobacninhtv.vn/anh-giap-quy-cuong-dua-ga-doi-yen-the-bay-xa-postid424680.bbg