INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–Lovers of balut—boiled fertilized duckling egg—read this: It is more than just an energizer or an aphrodisiac. You can also earn millions of pesos from it.
That is what the balut has done for Calixto and Maricris Huit, according to the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
Receiving a grant of P349,000 from the DOST’s Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (Setup) in 2012, the couple improved their “Marc’s Balut Processing Facility” in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay province, enabling them to produce more balut than before.
Before getting the grant, the facility produced up to 2,000 balut daily on some days, posting an average sale of 216,000 eggs annually. That came up to earnings of P2.16 million in one year.
Now, the Huits are able to produce 5,000 quality balut sa puti eggs (where the embryo is wrapped by a thin, whitish membrane) every day.
Sales up
For the first quarter of this year, sales went up to 360,000 eggs and gross sales totaled P3.24 million—with orders coming from different parts of Zamboanga and Basilan province, as well as from Dipolog and Cagayan De Oro cities.
With only six workers at the start, the facility now has 22 regular personnel and the couple plan to expand their business further.
From using three manually operated incubators, the couple upgraded the process by acquiring an automated 18-rack bay egg incubator with a digital thermostat control system and a load capacity of 80,000 eggs per cycle.
Training for development
Apart from going automatic, the couple were also able to get training on manpower development and process and system improvement for mechanized production.
The Setup is a nationwide program aimed at encouraging and assisting micro, small and medium enterprises to adopt technological innovations to improve their products, services and operations and increase, as well, their productivity and competitiveness.
It prioritizes assistance in food processing; furniture making; making of gifts, housewares and decor; horticulture and agriculture; metals and engineering; health products and services; as well as information and communications technology and electronics industries.
Officials say Setup also infuses appropriate technology to improve products, services and operations; provides human resource training and technical assistance and consultancy services; designs functional packages and labels; assists in establishing product standards including testing; and provides assistance for technology acquisition.
Eligible for Setup assistance are any local government unit, and Philippine-based companies or micro-, small- and medium-scale business firms involved in the priority sectors willing to apply technological innovations on their existing products and services.
Originally posted: 7:46 pm | Monday, July 7th, 2014
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