Khanya Eggs Business Plan — Feed Strategy

Feed as the dominant cost line, the procurement approach as volumes grow, and the point at which milling on site becomes worth considering.

Feed Strategy

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  • 8.1 Why feed dominates
  • 8.2 How feed is bought at each stage

8.1 Why feed dominates

Feed is R0.97 of the R2.17 it costs to produce an egg, 44.7 per cent of the total cost and 56.2 per cent of direct cost. A ten per cent movement in the feed price is worth R597 000 of Year 5 EBITDA, which is more than the entire Stage 2 capital programme.

R’000

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Feed

88

356

1 083

2 755

5 973

Point-of-lay pullets

68

238

670

1 542

2 901

Vaccination and health

6

26

83

222

504

Packaging

9

40

133

361

833

Power, water and litter

5

22

70

187

424

Total direct cost

176

683

2 038

5 067

10 635

Feed as a share of direct cost

50.0%

52.1%

53.1%

54.4%

56.2%

Feed as a share of revenue

34.4%

33.7%

33.5%

33.1%

32.4%

Feed cost per egg, R

1.01

0.99

0.98

0.97

0.97

8.2 How feed is bought at each stage

Stage

Purchasing basis

Effective position

Why

Stage 1

Bagged retail from a local agent

Highest cost per ton

500 birds consume roughly 20 tons a year; no supplier will quote bulk terms

Stage 2

Bagged, with a standing monthly order

Modest discount

2 000 birds consume roughly 80 tons; volume begins to matter

Stage 3

Bulk delivery into the feed store and bin

Meaningful discount

6 000 birds consume roughly 240 tons; ex-mill collection becomes viable

Stage 4

Bulk delivery, contracted quarterly

Better terms and price certainty

15 000 birds consume roughly 600 tons; forward contracting becomes possible

Stage 5

On-farm milling from bought ingredients

Lowest cost per ton

30 000 birds consume roughly 1 200 tons; the R620 000 mill is justified at that volume

The on-farm feed mill installed at Stage 5 costs R620 000 and mills roughly 1 200 tons a year. On the difference between compound feed at retail and milled feed from bought maize, soya and premix, a mill of that size is normally justified somewhere between 800 and 1 200 tons a year, which is precisely why it appears at Stage 5 and not earlier. Building it at Stage 3 would consume a third of that stage’s capital to serve a quarter of the volume needed to justify it.