i7 eyes market shift with US cattle imports
i7 eyes market shift with US cattle imports
Locally-owned firm i7 Ranch (Cambodia) Co Ltd is set to import 200 head of cattle from the US, introducing new breeds to the Kingdom’s farming and meat markets.
Managing director Srey Chanthou told The Post on October 19 that the decision comes after years of raising cattle, tracking demand on the market and mulling over which breeds could potentially offer local farmers the most bang for their buck.
“We want to change our people’s traditional way of raising cattle, and I saw a new opportunity in this segment. At the same time, we can also contribute by bringing new technologies to our farmers,” he said.
He noted that farmers typically raise local breeds for two years, which average just a few hundred kilogrammes. However, bulls of imported varieties can weigh 1,700-1,800kg and cows 700-800kg.
“The cattle that we have been importing bear a lot of benefits for the farmers. In fact, we’ve already shipped in 27 in a first batch on September 22. Now, the second batch of 200 cattle will arrive by the end of January or early in February,” Chanthou said.
The company currently offers Brahman, Nellore Pintado, Beefmaster, Black Angus, Wagyu and Indu-Brasil cattle for sale, as well as the Holstein Friesian breed of dairy cattle.
The firm has set up a ranch on 7ha in Vihear Suor commune of Kandal province’s Khsach Kandal district – just northeast of Phnom Penh, across the Mekong River – and planted grass fields where the cattle graze.
Chanthou said the company has a technical team on standby to provide buyers with the necessary training on raising, feeding and maintenance.
“I believe that our mission to get our people to move away from raising local breeds that don’t provide much benefit, and catch up with this kind of imported cattle, will provide a considerable source of windfall for the country’s meat supply,” he said.
But i7 is not alone in the cattle-import and dairy scene. Khmer Fresh Milk Co Ltd has also caught whiff of the enticing, lucrative returns offered by these foreign and hybrid bovine breeds, and carved out its own slice of the niche market.
Khmer Fresh Milk is a long-term partnership between Singapore-based Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar Development Fund II managed by Emerging Markets Investment Advisers (EMIA), Nexasia, a Japanese fund based in Singapore, and the founders group consisting of highly successful Israeli and local Cambodian entrepreneurs.
The company has imported about 500 Holstein heifers from Australia and plans to increase its production to 12,000 litres of Kirisu Farm-branded fresh milk per day in early 2022.
Its 300ha farm lies in a secluded valley in the hilly Phnom Tamao area, in Kandoeng commune’s Ukasaing village of Takeo province’s Bati district, nearly 40km south of the capital.
Working closely with Khmer Fresh Milk is Israeli technology partner Afimilk Agricultural Cooperative Ltd, one of the largest suppliers of dairy farm technology and management in the world.
