Jason Pascual
De La Salle University
Pia Manalastas
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“Bigger dream, bigger achievements”
“A happy life is a fulfilled life. It’s when you do something that goes beyond yourself.”
~ Louis Faure
During Louis Faure’s three-month internship in Gawad Kalinga, he fell in-love with the Philippines. He found purpose in the community as a social entrepreneur and decided to continue helping through Free Birds. According to Louis, the value of his social enterprise is twofold. Free Birds provides value through the restoration of the land and province of Angat, Bulacan, while empowering Filipino farmers through the creation of sustainable, productive, and profitable models of agriculture on a very small scale farm.
In establishing Free Birds, Louis hopes to raise chickens for people to have a healthier lifestyle in eating better quality chicken meat, while reducing consumption of pork. He believes that the generation today eat too much meat, which causes terrible consequences on their health and the environment due to mass production, consumption, and food processing. The Philippines is also experiencing a disconnection between the local market, resources, and supplies. Local consumers are greatly influenced by attractive marketing activities and prefer to purchase foreign products from other countries. In this case, local farmers are left behind with their products unable to market their goods. The goal of Free Birds is then to rebuild the connection between the consumers and the farmers to be able to pave their way out of poverty.
Since the enterprise is at its early stages, Louis is still hands-on with business operations, which involves feeding and curing the chickens naturally to ensure their happiness and health. Currently, Free Birds’ innovates through an organic method of raising chickens, along with an innovative business model that allows them to operate sustainably and to scale exponentially. The social enterprise is also undertaking research and development for potentially more profitable innovations and initiatives that could help the community.
Today, Louis works with three Filipinos who have helped him in making the business successful. The first person lives in the area of Angat, Bulacan. He quit school when he was 12 to work and take care of his family. Despite struggling to survive, this person has the love and passion to cultivate and serve the land, which is an attribute that Louis admired and looked for in people. The second person is from Davao GK Beneficiary. He works as a farm manager and constantly takes care of it. Moreover, he helps by reporting to Louis about the happenings in the farm. The third person is a student from School for Experiential and Entrepreneurial Development (SEED), who aspires to become a social entrepreneur. He helps Louis run the business and make strategic decisions for the team.
“To regain the connection between consumers and farming as way out of poverty and of destroying the environment as we do it today.”
~ Louis Faure
Louis saw the disconnect between the importance of farming and the public perception of working in agriculture. He found a way to simultaneously improve the image of farming and ensure that farmers are empowered and paid their due. This marked the beginning of Free Birds, which provides a solution to these problems by investing in the potential of Filipino farms and farmers to become productive, profitable, and self-sustainable. Additionally, Louis saw a business opportunity in the current lifestyle trend that focuses on health and organic goods, which is why the emphasis of Free Birds is on quality - ensuring that they are organic and of high quality. With the combination of Louis’ drive to empower Filipino farmers and to bring back value to the lands of Angat, Bulacan, and the business opportunity brought by trends that focus on health and quality, Free Birds continues to scale faster than ever before.
“I will take on the dream of those who have lost their capacity to dream.
I dream of a prosperous, slum-free Philippines.
A people who will not merely be consumers but also producers.
I dream of Filipino brands which will be globally recognizable.
Filipino brands that do not leave the poor behind.
I will produce such a brand.”
~Third Gawad Kalinga Commandment
Louis openly admires other Filipino brands that were incubated by Gawad Kalinga: Enchanted Farms, including Human Nature and Bayani Brew. Each social enterprise incubated by Gawad Kalinga is part of a system that invests in the potential of the Philippines and its people, and its returns are in the form of profit and environmental and social impacts. Louis started as an intern of this incubator, and quickly fell in love with the lifestyle and culture within the confines of the farm. His love for the Philippines extended what was supposed to be a 3-month internship to a lifetime commitment in the form of Free Birds, which he aspires to make the next globally recognizable Filipino brand.
Living within Gawad Kalinga: Enchanted Farm, along with the community of Filipinos working with the different enterprises in it, Louis was exposed to the hardships and challenges of poverty. Gawad Kalinga inspired him to dream of a different future, not just for himself, but also for the Filipinos he saw toiling away endlessly for meager returns. What was once a vague sense of optimism, became definite. He would work to bring about the change necessary to enable others to dream, and expand their horizons.
“Our economy is rising but the people like our farmers and fishermen are at the bottom and do not move. That’s why fighting against poverty is really introducing farmers in the economy. ”
~ Louis Faure
Most of the social enterprises in the Gawad Kalinga Enchanted Farm have the objective to never stay micro, as staying micro would mean that people are limited to small efforts or answers in dealing with poverty. For Free Birds, the business is modeled to be disruptive in the industry, enabling it to have a higher impact for business, society, and the environment.
In terms of business operations, Free Birds is focused on developing their production supply. The particular improvements are with regard to building bigger places (fences) for the chickens, hiring more farmers for the community, and involving more cooperatives for expansion and sustainability. In the long-term, expanding the business would eventually entail lower costs through economies of scale, considering the growing network of small scale farmers.
Free Birds is also focused on creating a positive impact to the employees or farmers. In today’s business landscape, farmers are unhappy and consider their work unfulfilling. The process of producing food has become an anonymous industry, wherein food has no name, carries no love, and has less quality. Considering this problem, Free Birds has enabled farmers to be dignified and proud with the food they produce, which people can reconnect with and fully appreciate. In addition, the business plans to implement a training program for farmers to use affordable and efficient technologies. The training is an investment to improve the quality of work and increase the value of land, while maintaining low capital expenditure. Free Birds envisions that the local farmers can proudly and sustainably produce healthy Filipino food for more and more people.
“It’s not just about earning the most profit, rather it’s about what one can contribute to the betterment of the society and people.”
~ Louis Faure
Establishing itself as a producer of quality goods, Free Birds has an increasing number of loyal customers and clients. Aside from the excellent quality of their goods, the added value of taking part in a greater cause attracts numerous clients, which proves that more and more individuals and organizations are becoming responsible with their consumption. As of now, they cater to 20 different clients including top-line and first class establishments such as Shangri-La Hotels.
Louis believes that investing in the farmers and in the environment will eventually lead to higher returns in the future. All of Free Birds profits are used in growing and expanding - specifically focusing on the training of the Filipino farmers. Similar to Louis’ dream, the vision and mission of Free Birds is creating a positive social and environmental impact. Through this, and as proven by other incubatees of Gawad Kalinga, the positive impact on people and profit will eventually yield to profit and growth.
Many people today are unaware of the negative consequences of their dependence on meat as a source of food and nutrition. Mass production of meat negatively affects the environment with the rapid depletion of resources and the use of fossil fuels, while mass consumption of meat develops an unhealthy lifestyle among people. Free Birds aims produce chicken as a healthier option of meat without harming the environment, through a network of small scale farmers that raise chickens.
The purpose of this innovation is not to maximize profit, but to raise consumer awareness. It increases the appreciation of consumers for farmers and agriculture in general, rewarding the people who worked diligently in order to provide for the food supply of the country. Louis and his team directly deliver the chickens to their clients to cut intermediaries, to create more sustainable profit margins, and to ensure that when consumers purchase their product, they know that they are supporting the farmers directly. By bridging the gap between the market, resources and suppliers, Free Birds is simultaneously promoting healthier and more sustainable lifestyles, as well as reducing poverty and overall economic disparity.
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