Bangkok Ranch

BANGKOK RANCH

LEADING THE FLOCK

POWERED BY INSIDE FOOD & DRINK

BANGKOK RANCH

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PROFILE

Bangkok Ranch has been a champion of the duck meat industry since 1984 and has been evolving its business consistently over the subsequent decades.

As an early pioneer of the industry, Joseph Suchaovanich, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors and Managing Director of Asia and Asia Pacific at Bangkok Ranch (BR Group), has his ear to the ground when it comes to market trends and the future of the duck sector. Now with facilities in three countries and an ever-expanding market, Mr Suchaovanich’s goal is for Bangkok Ranch to become the most reputable purveyor of duck in the world.

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Bangkok Ranch

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ow exporting to 20 countries, Bangkok Ranch is currently surfing the boom as consumer choices evolve and move away from traditional red meat and poultry dishes.

The family of Joseph Suchaovanich, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors and Managing Director of Bangkok Ranch Thailand, began plucking feathers from ducks that would later be processed for pillows and duvets. But the question of what to do with the duck meat led to a critical business decision.

Established in 1984, Bangkok Ranch became an early pioneer in the duck meat industry in Thailand before merging with Netherlands-based Tomassen Duck-To in 2007. Bangkok Ranch handles up to 18 million ducks annually, compared to 10 million ducks by the Dutch operation overseen by Gertjan Tomassen, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Europe, BR Group.

World class operations Using modern technology with world-class hygiene and quality control standards, both operations are fully-integrated across the entire value chain – from company-owned parent stock farms and hatcheries to dedicated third-party contract farms, and then, processing chilled and frozen duck meat, as well as raw and cooked parts, whole birds and feathers.

Bangkok Ranch, headquartered in Bangphli, in Samutprakan Province, dominates around 50% of the Thai domestic market with its fresh and frozen products, while frozen and cooked duck meat products are packaged for export.

The Dutch operation, based in Ermelo for more than 50 years, is the leading duck meat producer by size in the Netherlands, and one of the largest exporters in Europe. The company also has duck operations in Kosovo.

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Inside Food & Drink

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BANGKOK RANCH

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PROFILE

Mr Suchaovanich commented: “When we first began, Bangkok Ranch imported Cherry Valley duck species from the UK to use as the grandparent and parent stock to establish our early hatchlings numbers. Today, our primary focus for raw meat is the white Pekin duck breed.”

The Thai operation has an in-house feed mill with 150,000 tonnes capacity per annum, and eight parent stock farms across the country.

These underpin the hatchery which has a capacity of 24.3 million eggs per year, while 85% of the livestock is raised through 60 to 70 contract farmers in Thailand.

Bangkok Ranch, which was stock-listed in 2015, added a duck meat cooking plant at Pathumthani. To consolidate operations, it took over an existing factory in Thailand where it processes ham and sausage production.

Strong export market The company closely adheres to stringent environmental protection regulations and has adopted advanced farming technologies to maintain a competitive advantage.

“These are required when we are handling nearly 30 million ducks a year and are in line with our desire to maintain our

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Bangkok Ranch

strategy to be a completely global operator,” said Mr Suchaovanich.

“We export to all parts of the world’s continents, except North and South America.”

Bangkok Ranch was the first producer to export duck meat to the likes of Hong Kong, Japan, Germany, and Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Its primary markets are the Netherlands, the UK, Japan and Germany.

Behind-the-scenes, duck parent stocks are imported from Europe and housed in high-hygiene, closed-system farms operated by the company. The latest farms are climate-controlled for even higher levels of protection and efficiency. Eggs are hatched at its hatchery, and the resulting day-old chicks go to more than 60 or 70 commercial farms operated by farmers under exclusive contracts.

All commercial farms are closed-system operations that ensure Bangkok Ranch’s ducks have no contact with wild birds, with controls that minimise the risk of AI and other diseases.

The company operates a feed mill that supplies feed to the parent stock and commercial farms, as well as to outside customers as necessary, to maintain an optimum level of capacity utilisation. Feed formulations are based on the best agronomic and animal husbandry practices to ensure optimal growth, health and immunity to disease.

Duck meat for the domestic market is sold raw or cooked, chilled or frozen, through various channels including poultry wholesalers and supermarket chains. Duck meat for export is cooked in a variety of ways: roasted, smoked, steamed, boiled, and fried.

The EU is the main export market, principally Chinese restaurants and supermarket chains in the UK and Germany. It sells cooked products for export under brands: Dalee, Dalee Red, and Duck Delight, as well as under wholesaler and supermarket own-labels.

Keeping up with trends Mr Suchaovanich commented: “By controlling the complete supply chain we can guarantee strict controls and, ultimately, we can offer premium quality duck meat.”

The company had opted to build its own duck meat cooking plant because of the diminishing markets in raw meat.

Mr Suchaovanich said: “We decided to transition to more cooked products so that we can increase our share in the ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook niches, and consumers can enjoy our succulent products. Increasing our options and leading under the Dalee brand helped us consolidate upstream in the various end-consumer channels.”

The company then invested in a new slaughter plant, which was completed in 2021. Located in Sakaew province, 40 km from the Thai-Cambodia border, the plant is one of the biggest and most modern facilities of its kind.

The new plant will eventually process 5,000 to 6,000 birds an hour, or around 15 million to 18 million per year, primarily serving markets in north-eastern Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

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Inside Food & Drink

Recently, the company also opened new commercial farms in north-eastern Thailand, along with a breeder farm on the country’s east coast. Together, they are boosting additional farming production capacity and facilities by another million ducks a year.

The new commercial farms will use state-of-the-art technologies allowing full automation and biosecurity. The farms and the new processing plant will take animal welfare to the next level, Mr Suchaovanich assured, adding that other plans will help modernise internal processes and equipment at various sites across the group.

“In Thailand, with eight parent stock farms, three cooking plants and two primary processing slaughter operations, we are now well placed for the changing demands of the market, as well as offering a competitive edge and improving operating efficiencies.”

An ethos based on the premium The group is considering increasing exports to neighbouring Asian nations, including Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and the Philippines over the next five years, as they are highly populated places that have relatively few duck meat processing industries.

“We are always looking for long-term partnerships to help create tailor-made products for them and to continue to develop collaborative approaches that seek to widen duck meat consumption. We will now focus on fully utilising our new facilities and maximising those investments to penetrate the consumer sectors and developing more R&D on new products.”

Mr Suchaovanich concluded: “Above all else, we are focused on becoming the world’s most reputable purveyor of duck products.”n

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