Grupo San Fernando consists of three companies: San Fernando, Avícola Chimú and Rinconada del Sur, but San Fernando itself is the most emblematic company.
The history of the group dates to 1948, when World War II was ending. The grandfather of Carlos Ikeda, current director and member of Grupo San Fernando's Board of Directors, was imprisoned in a concentration camp and returned from the United States. Although he had left land and a company in Peru, among other things, he lost everything.
After World War II, “my grandfather started raising ducks, of which he knew nothing,” Carlos Ikeda told Industria Avícola. He founded the company on October 10, 1948 with 36 female ducks and one male duck. “My uncle Julio, the oldest of the four brothers, realized that chickens were an opportunity because it had more of a future, because of consumption of Peruvian chicken ‘a la brasa’ (rotisserie)” and so in the 1960’s he made the decision to raise chickens.
By 1975, they started selling turkey and build their first feed mill. “It was very small, but it gave us some independence.” That's how integration began.
From chicken to multiprotein San Fernando produces 280 million broilers ─ mostly Cobb, but also Ross ─ and its growth expectations are focused on exports. They also have 500,000 Hy-Line laying hens in production, while they sell 10 million pullets a year. Grupo San Fernando is a representative of Hy-Line in Peru, a country in which there are many egg producers, giving it a lot of dynamism. Most of the farms are close to Lima. Broilers are located about 300 km north and 400 km south of Lima. Five million turkeys are produced a year south of Lima.
“In Peru, we have managed to bring out part of the seasonality of turkey consumption, because it used to be consumed almost 100% at Christmas, and now it is 50% at Christmas and 50% during the rest of the year.”
In 1985, with nine sows and one boar, the company began to produce swine. In two years, the company already had 250 pigs, so the operation was moved to Chilca. Today, it has 3,000 sows. Pork is used for the company's own processed products, such as sausages. Thus, Grupo San Fernando is a multiprotein company with turkey, chicken, pork, and table eggs, with a complete integration from breeders to processed products.
The take-off of San Fernando to get to be the first company in Peru and one of the top 10 in Latin America begins with one of the milestones already mentioned: The first feed mill. With the independence obtained with that facility, San Fernando was able to manage and control the processes.
Live chicken market
As it has been already mentioned in other articles, in general live chicken is the one that boosts the market in Peru. Grupo San Fernando processes only up to 20 percent, but live chicken is the heart of the business. Previously, 15 percent was sold to supermarkets. Today only 8 percent is sold.
“It’s incredible, it’s really a very sui generis market, and at the end it’s the consumer the one who tells what to do and who chooses how to buy,” said Carlos Ikeda. “Our consumers greatly appreciate fresh meat, warm when you touch it.”
In addition to taste, it must do a lot with economics and availability, as people go to the market every day for grocery shopping. Finally, the chicken that people like in the country is yellow.
Egg market
The egg industry has many opportunities in Peru. With a per capita consumption of 220 eggs, the opportunity is not only in “growing consumption like the one in Mexico, but because it is one of the most economically viable options to feed the population,” said the director of San Fernando.
The challenge of being able to export With over 51 kg of chicken per capita consumption, one of the objectives San Fernando have as producers is to be able to export, because domestic growth has a limit.
“It is one of the keys and it is what we are working on at the poultry association. We are looking to make Peru a country that can export animal protein, not just chicken, but pork and eggs.”
Increased use of technology by the company
All over the world, companies are migrating or have already migrated to using technology, and Peru cannot be left behind. All of this must be done in accordance with the standards and good practices of the environment and animal welfare, among others, with a focus on healthy products.
“In San Fernando we are on the road to automation," said Dr. Ikeda. San Fernando’s plant located in Lima has automation. They are planning to increase automation to be able to process more birds in the next few years, focusing on value-added products. In this regard, Ikeda concludes: “I think the way for everyone is to achieve a digital transformation and technological innovation, not just for efficiency, but because is one of the most important things we need to be clear about as an industry.”
San Fernando with the family
Quality, Mr. Ikeda points out, is the company's main feature. “If you have no quality, no one buys from you. It's that simple.” In addition, one of the topics that San Fernando associates a lot are families, “the proximity of the brand to families and the identification of the values we have as a family towards the end consumers.”
This comes from his grandfather, perhaps from his Japanese heritage, although it is universal. The family has four values: loyalty, respect, honesty, and laboriousness. “These are values with which we have been raised, passed on to us, and we ─ third generation ─ have been able to convey in the company.”
San Fernando will continue to contribute to the growth of the industry through value-added products and exports.
