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Taste Brazil | Farm to Table
As we warm our hands and nourish our bodies with a hot meal, it’s easy to focus on what’s on the table and forget what goes behind the scenes. This trip to Brazil is precisely dedicated to the significance of our unsung heroes – the farmers and producers, the food researchers, the company responsible for feeding Brazilians across the nation.
BRF in Concordia.
For many years, The Soup Spoon has been a proud partner of SATS-BRF, a distributor of Sadia in Singapore. SATS-BRF is a joint venture between SATS and BRF, Sadia’s parent company. BRF is one of the 10th largest food manufacturers in the world. With over 40 factories worldwide and a global workforce of 120,000 personnel, BRF is an exemplary model of the scalability of sustainable food, done right with commitment, responsibility and love for her people and our environment.
Join us as we demystify the journey our food takes to reach our plates. From farm to table, may we gain a deeper appreciation for the collective work that goes behind and the food we have come to love and enjoy.
Meet senhor Adelar, a 52-year-old chicken farmer with BRF.
Senhor Adelar with his wife, Neusa.
One of the 640 farmers here at Concordia which produces most of the chickens for Sadia Singapore, senhor Adelar is a second generation chicken farmer of Italian descent. For 28 years, he has devoted his life to the farm, with many awards from the company to boot. The years showed. He smiled and the lines around his eyes furrowed. His finger nails were caked with dirt, like every other farmer who has been hard at work tending to things they love. In his hands, he held the chicks tenderly. We couldn’t have found a sweeter and more experienced person to show us around the farm!
10-day-old chicks in tender care.
At the time of our visit, the chicks were vulnerable at 10 days old, so bulk of his work centred around keeping the chicks warm by burning wood fire to stabilise the temperature. If the temperature fluctuates too much in the aviary, the chicks are likely to catch a cold, and like a loving father, he does all he can to ensure the chicks stay toasty and healthy. “As long as I can, I will continue doing this,” he said gently, then broke into a smile.
We were shown around the farm and senhor Adelar’s bounty of orange and other fruit trees. Co-workers walked on by, gave him friendly pats on the back, and it’s really not hard to see how well respected this man is on the farm. Harvests of oranges were passed around, and we heard about how it is a common practice on the farm to share – home farm harvests, home bakes etc. When they have it, they share it.
Like many of the BRF’s employees, senhor Adelar’s wife works with him in the company too, and even his son has come on board as a veterinarian for BRF. We were invited into his home to share a chimaro, a yerba mate drink (herbal tea popular in South America) and some cakes his lovely wife, Neusa, had baked. There is a saying that unless all the water in the hot flask is gone, no one goes home.
Such is the beautiful hospitality of the people.
Concordia is where BRF started 80 years ago, and today, it is widely recognised as the best city to live in Brazil. An estimate of 50% of Concordia population works directly or indirectly for BRF, with some 6000 people hired by BRF on her farms, factories, consultancy, research and development etc.
While it is the large scale of the company that entices many job-hunters, it is the warmth that keeps them this big, and growing. How heartening it is to know that a company of such success can stay this humble and compassionate, taking great care of her people, the families and the animals. We are souper proud to be your partner in this farm-to-table journey.
A rare peek at the state-of-the-art factory facilities of BRF.
Read more on SouperChef Anna’s travel to Brazil on our e-magazine. Download Here.
* This Souper Inspirations trip to Brazil is sponsored by our kind partners, Sadia Singapore, BRF and SATS-BRF (distributor of Sadia in Singapore). All opinions and photos are as always, ours.