The demand for chicken eggs in Indonesia continues to increase, thus providing a very promising business prospect.

Bogor, W Java (Indonesia Window) – As one of the components in nine basic necessities, the demand for chicken eggs in Indonesia continues to increase with relatively stable prices, thus providing a quite promising business prospect.

“The need for chicken eggs continues to increase, because eggs are an important source of animal protein. The target market for this product is very wide, including the household market, the food and beverage industry, hotels, restaurants and catering business, as well as the special egg market in the form of eggs containing high omega,” the owner and CEO of the layer chicken farm called Quanta Farm, Kusnan bin Kundori, said at the KPMI Goes to Industry activity in Indonesia’s Bogor city, West Java province, recently.

According to him, the household sector is the largest and most consistent market segment for chicken eggs. “Although still below several countries in the world, per capita consumption of chicken eggs in Indonesia reaches 6.7 kilograms per year.”

In addition, he continued, the Free Nutritious Meal/Nutritious Breakfast program launched by the government also makes the layer chicken farming business even more promising.

"This program from the government is certain to increase the demand for eggs, so that the market for this product will continue to be available," said Kusnan, who is also the Business Club Director of the Bogor Chapter Coordinator of the Indonesian Muslim Entrepreneurs Community (locally known as its abbreviation KPMI).

The targets of the eating nutritious food program include school and Islamic boarding school students, as well as under-five children and pregnant/breastfeeding mothers.

The Jakarta provincial administration mhas again conducted a trial of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program recently, at the 03 Rorotan State Elementary School in North Jakarta. The menu served in the trial program consisted of rice, beef, omelets, and bananas.

From a business perspective, he continued, the layer chicken farming business can be started with 1,000 chicks (pullets), namely 16-week-old chickens or DOC (Day Old Chick) chicks.

At Quanta Farm, Kusnan cultivates two breeds of chicken, namely Hy-Line Brown and ISA Brown.

"These two breeds of chicken have proven to be the best because one chicken lays one egg every day, so that it can produce an average of 300 chickens during their production period from 16 weeks to 100 weeks," Kusnan explained, adding that even in the United States, this breed of chicken can produce 500 eggs during their productive period.

From the ISA Brown breed, Quanta Farm produces omega chicken eggs.

"This type of chicken egg is different because it is given special feed. ISA Brown chickens that are raised to produce eggs containing omega are given feed with grain content, such as corn, flaxseed, and fish oil," he pointed out.

Flaxseed is a grain plant originating from the Middle East, and is known to have various nutritional contents that can improve body health, such as lowering cholesterol, reducing inflammation, and preventing cancer.

On a household scale, he added, raising layer chickens can also be done easily. “Raising chickens can be done in the yard of a house. A one square meter of land can be used to raise seven chickens.”

Although very promising, Kusnan emphasized that the layer chicken farming business requires a strong intention. “The farming business requires a strong intention and effort, from the initial stage to production. If we stop in the middle of the road and have not reached the production stage, our capital cannot be returned,” he added.

“Moreover, this livestock business is related to living creatures, whose life and death depend on the Creator (God). Sometimes the calculations on paper are not the same as the results obtained as it can be minus or even more,” he noted.

Kusnan, who is a graduate of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), offers a partnership scheme and complete training for the layer chicken farming business to the community, in order to meet the increasing market demand in the country.

“For partnerships, we can make it in the form of packages, for example a package of 100 or 200 chickens,” he said.

Listening to the presentation from the CEO of Quanta Farm, one of the participants of the KPMI Goes to Industry program who is a retiree from a state-owned company, Andi Jauhari, expressed his interest in the layer chicken farming business.

"After listening to the presentation from Mr. Kusnan, I was inspired to invite my fellow retirees to invest their pension funds in this business, so that the money they receive does not just ‘evaporate’, and can even generate income," he said after attending the KPMI Goes to Industry event.

KPMI Goes to Industry, a biweekly program of Bogor Chapter of KPMI, invites people, both those who are already entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs, to join in a useful ‘business chat’, which is expected to expand the business network and ecosystem among them.

For entrepreneurs, KPMI Goes to Industry is an opportunity for them to provide education to the public about their business systems and products, while promoting their flagship products.

KPMI Goes to Industry also opens up opportunities for collaboration, synergy and sharing, especially among business players.

The first KPMI Goes to Industry program held at Quanta Farm was attended by dozens of entrepreneurs engaged in various business fields, including fashion, clove oil production, property, and media businesses.

Reporting by Indonesia Window