Everybody seems to be producing chicken and chicken products and all hope that there chicken will hit the market and be accepted so they earn income from their efforts. We live in an age where people seriously consider what they eat, where they buy it and how what they eat is produced and even packaged among many other considerations. The chicken and egg buyers ask questions, do their own research online and through word of mouth and even search for product reviews. Doing everything you can to beat the crowd and make your chicken and eggs stand out is your duty as a farmer so you satisfy your customers and remain relevant in the poultry industry.
The following are ways to make this possible:
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- Locality: First satisfy your area before going out to far flung areas. When freshness is your marketing point and people know what you are selling was only recently produced in a locality they can identify, the farmer scores big and gets hold of a huge chunk of the local market. Locality doesn’t mean your neighbor only, it can mean a whole location, district or county. Let them know this is produced within their geographical area.
- As a farmer you can go out of your way to use some modern technological advancements to make your products stand out. This could be new, safe, hygienic, clean and humane slaughtering methods or simply attractive and decent packaging to attract customers if selling dressed chicken and packaged eggs.
- Feeding: We are all what we eat. All chicken and eggs taste and look differently depending on what they are fed on. Ensure you feed your chicken on balanced and adequate feed that gives your chicken and eggs benefits that go beyond nutrition to give other benefits like health and taste. Tasty chicken and eggs once known will be easily ordered or picked from supermarkets as others collect dust.
- Food must be tasty to attract loyalty. If every effort is made to make food more organic as possible and bring out its natural taste, customer loyalty is captured. People want more natural things in a world grappling with so many diseases related to foods. So health must be a cardinal consideration for every farmer so the health benefits of their poultry and poultry products is conveyed to attract new buyers and retain old ones.
- Give buyers convenience and variety. Kienyeji chicken can be sold live or dressed. Eggs can be sold packaged or at the desires of the buyer. Creative farmers can even slaughter and sell various parts together that are attractive to consumers. This direct connection with the needs of the buyer builds and maintains loyalty. It is therefore upon the farmer to be creative enough to identify the local needs of her target population and respond to them accordingly.
- Be the local marketer: new ways are emerging of online sales, supermarket sales among others. This leaves a category of buyers who want local and are not interested in the chicken and eggs lying for days on supermarket shelves. Reach out with freshness to this category who want fresh produce delivered to them from the comfort of their homes.
- Show a difference between your chicken and eggs from those of others. Share with buyers short statements about the uniqueness of your chicken, the manner of raising them among other unique attributes. More importantly there are customers very keen on handling and packaging. This should be striking and attractive. Try as much as you can to only give customers the opportunity to say positive things about you and make an effort to respond positively to negative feedback. Nothing destroys a well-established business so easily like ‘bad-mouthing’ by dissatisfied customers who have not been properly and professionally handled.
Only by being on top of the key attributes of your chicken and chicken products can you effectively build a loyal network of customers and attract new ones and therefore effectively beat the competition that exists in the poultry industry for a very choosy poultry market.
For guidance on how to make your own poultry feeds cheaply and effectively, follow the link below for a copy of the chicken feed formulation manual.
