RDF Feed, Livestock & Foods, Inc. – A Commitment to High Quality Meats

ONLINE MANILA | RDF Feed, Livestock & Foods, Inc. – A Commitment to High Quality Meats | A livestock producer in Central Luzon has remained true to its mission of providing Filipino households with high quality fresh meats and a wide selection of value-added meat (VAM) products that adhere to global standard for food safety. RDF Feed, Livestock & Foods, Inc. or RDF is an agri-food enterprise that owns and operates among others, a chain of stand-alone meat shops under the brand name, Fresh Options. Fresh meats sold at Fresh Options are sourced from company-owned swine and broiler farms while value-added meat products are manufactured at the central depot in Porac in Pampanga. The company implements a cold chain system that maintains and preserves the freshness and quality of meats when they are delivered to all outlets of Fresh Options in Tuguegarao, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Zambales, Bataan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Metro Manila, Cavite and Laguna. Central Depot The central depot is home to RDF’s three major processing plants – slaughterhouse, meat cutting plant and meat processing plant. The first building of the central depot was constructed in 2007, which served primarily as storage for meats from slaughtered animals. As the demand for fresh meats and processed meats increased, additional facilities were built – Meat cutting plant for chicken and pork in 2009, VAM A Cooked Line Building in 2015 and VAM B Fresh and Marinated products and BBF (Batter, Bread and Fry) Line Building in 2017. In addition, RDF inaugurated an in-house export grade slaughterhouse in 2018, which has a capacity of 250 hogs per hour. All facilities of the central depot are state-of-the art that make use of modern technologies in order to maximize production and ensure hygiene and safety. VAM A and VAM B buildings are semi-automated and are equipped with modern machines from Europe for BBF line, portioning and stuffing, cooking and smoke house. Each VAM building has a capacity of 400 kg per hour. Quality Seals Quality assurance and food safety are top priorities. All processes at the central depot adhere strictly to food safety standards set by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) for fresh meats and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for processed meats. The meat-cutting plant of RDF is the only Class AAA establishment in the province of Pampanga while its abattoir is one of the two slaughterhouses with Class AAA rating in the whole Central Luzon. Both are also HACCP-certified by the NMIS of the Bureau of Animal Industry. A Class AAA rating is given to establishments whose operational procedures and facilities are compliant with international standards. HACCP or Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points, according to the 1999 FDA Model Food Code, is “a system of preventive controls that is the most effective and efficient way to assure that food products are safe.” In October last year, the slaughterhouse and meat cutting plant passed the Food Safety System Certification (FSSC  22000 v5.1) requirements by BSI, a leading food safety certification provider. This simply means that the whole management system, products and processes of these facilities are efficient, safe, and comply with global quality and food safety standards. The certification covered the slaughtering of hogs and fabrication of chilled and frozen pork and beef primal as well as the processing of perishable animal products. Business Model

After 35 years, RDF has evolved into a company-owned and company-operated agri-food business. Production systems and business processes are linked together into a cohesive supply chain to deliver maximum value to customers. The company will continue to expand operations in order to meet the growing demand for food and make its products more accessible to a bigger market, without compromising quality. To distinguish the company from other livestock producers, RDF does not engage in partnering with contract growers.  It would rather have control of the supply chain to ensure high quality meats for the buying public. Dr.  Robert H. Lo founded RDF in 1988 as a poultry contract grower for giant integrators. He is currently the company’s CEO and President.