Goat Meat or Chevon Industry in Isabela Province

Echague, Isabela — The Cagayan Valley Small Ruminants Research Center (CVSRRC) is set to commercialize its own brand of canned chevon or goat meat as soon as it gets the accreditation from the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) for its processing facility and goat slaughter house. Echague Isabela

This was revealed by Dr. Jonathan N. Nayga, director of CVSRRC, during a recent technology conference held in Echague campus of Isabela State University by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD). 

The accreditation, which is expected to be completed within this year, will enable canned chevon to expand its market which is now limited only to Cagayan Valley. 

“We need to subject our processing facility and slaughter house to accreditation in order to meet market standards,” Nayga explained. 

Nayga said that the CVSRRC has perfected the technology on goat meat canning and has come up with three goat meat recipes such as adobo, kaldereta and kilawin under the brand name “Chevon Valley”. Shelflife tests and nutritional analyses were already done. 

The said products were developed through a meat processing technology component of a project under the Regional Goat Program funded by PCAARRD through the Cagayan Valley Agriculture Resource and Research Development Consortium (CVARRD). 

Nayga noted the increasing demand for chevon in Region 2 especially during holiday season, probably because it can be a good substitute to other meats as it has lower fat content. He said that canning will add value to goat meat and will further showcase the rural culinary specialties of the region to a bigger market. 

Due to the ongoing accreditation, the processing center’s operation which started in 2011 is now temporarily halted. 

Initial productions got favorable market feedback, and there are now at least five parties willing to adopt the technology and market the product under their own brands, according to Nayga. 

Once operational, Nayga estimates an initial requirement of 10 head per week for slaughter and gradually increase as the production progresses. The processing facility has a production capacity of 200 cans per hour and is capable to operate in 8-hour shift a day.

He said that the supply of goat will come from CVSRRC and will be augmented by the stocks coming from farmer cooperators of the highly successful PCAARRD-funded project called “Rural Enterprise Development through Innovative Goat Production System” which has just completed its scale-up stage. In Region 2 alone, which is one of the four regions identified for the project, there are now a total of 730 farmer-cooperators that engage in viable goat production. These farmers are either into backyard production (5- to 19-doe level) or commercial production (20-doe level and up). 

Aside from canned chevon, the center also produces vaccuum-packed frozen choice cuts which are intended for customized recipes. Choice cuts are sold at P350 per kilogram while canned chevon sells for P90 per 200-gram can. 

In line with commercialization, Nayga has cited a plan to have Chevon Valley products certified by the Islamic Dawah Council of the Philippines (IDCP) to make it compliant with the Islamic standards on food, and allow Muslim consumers to make canned chevon as a part of their diet.

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