Becoming “Pon Yang Kham Beef”
Pon Yang Kham is derived from the name of a village in Tambon Non Hom, Muang district in Sakhon Nakhon province. The village is home to a Pon Yang Kham Livestock cooperatives under the Armed Forces Security Command that farms Thailand’s best beef. Pon Yang Kham may not be familiar but Thai-French Natural Beef definitely is, thanks to its French hybrid cows between two best breeds Charolais and Limosin sponsored by the French government.
Col.Matana Osothongs Marketing Director of Pon Yang Kham Livestock cooperatives first planned to raise the local best breed to compete with imported frozen beef, targeting on high-end customers. Unlike domesticated cows, Pon Yang Kham is fed with chemical-free, natural feeding. After seven-day chilled at 0 – 4-degree Celsius in Sakhon Nakhon, the carcass are measured to find the marbling scores. Once transported to Bangkok, the carcasses are kept in the chilled room for at least 14 days before being delivered to restaurants, supermarkets and the two cooperatives outlets.
Cows 24 to 30 months of age are Pon Yang Kham standard. Started with 38 cows worth about Bt400,000 in 1981, the number of cows has gone up to 5,694, worth more than Bt240M.
“We built our “Pon Yang Kham” brand since day one we registered our business. Our production capacity depends on our members. We don’t have a policy to buy cows and sold under Pon Yang Kham brand because of our unique chemical-free and natural feeding. Any cows bought would be fed for at least 10 months in our farm before selling under our brand,” says the director.
Uniqueness of Pon Yang Kham
The red marbling Pon Yang Kham beef can be traced back to its origin, with the food traceability system. The system reveals a cow’s history from day one it was born, days of being naturally fed, to the delivery day. The system does not only ensure the safety for customers, but also encourage the members to keep their fine standard.
“At times, we found fake Pon Yang Kham that couldn’t be traced back to its origin. Because our beef sells. But they don’t know that the real fans of Pon Yang Kham can tell the difference between the real and the fake.”
Pon Yang Kham products can easily be traced back through its traceability system in www.thaitrace.net or www.thaifrenchbeef.com . Or you can simply type TM and the traceability code (on the sticker found in the product package) as a text message and send it to 4545111, the origin will be sent back to you.
Pon Yang Kham Cuts
The average weight of a Pon Yang Kham to be slaughtered is 620 kilograms. Based on the National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards, the local marbling scores are between 1 and 5. There are eight levels in the United States and 12 in Japan. Pon Yang Kham beef is generally scored at 3.5 to 4.5. The marbling scores usually get higher in winter, thanks to the lower temperature.
Popular cuts are “fillet”, “striploin”, “sirloin” and “T-bone” for steak while “paleron”, “aiguillette” and “chuck” are most wanted cuts to be transformed into thin slices in Japanese Chabu Chabu, Korean BBQ, and Northeastern-style BBQ restaurants.
credit by www.coopthai.com
