A fresh, pasture-raised chicken is nothing like the frozen poultry from the mainland sold in supermarkets.
“The chickens are alive just a few hours before you pick them up,” said Julius Ludovico, who runs J. Ludovico Farm with his wife, sister and three children.
Theirs is the only Oahu farm that raises chickens naturally, fed on grain, grass and worms in Waialua, he said.
The chickens are sold on Thursdays at Ludovico’s Kaneohe slaughterhouse for $5 a pound, averaging 3 to 4 pounds. Though the price is two or three times higher than what supermarkets charge, it has dropped from $6, now that Ludovico purchases the feed at a bulk versus retail rate.
Ludovico primarily sells his chickens to about a dozen restaurants, but as restaurants are now restricted to takeout, only one orders consistently. Normally he sells 200 to 250 a week, but sales have plummeted to 75, and Ludovido is worried about paying the bills. “It is hard times, but it’s not just us.”
He remembers a worse catastrophe, from October to December in 2018, after record heavy rainfall created “a perfect storm of humidity for disease to proliferate within the chickens.” Ludovico lost hundreds of birds and thousands of dollars, and sales dropped from 300 to only 20 birds a week.
“Every day I’d go to the farm, I just wanted to quit,” he said. “But I got through it; it was tough.”
His suppliers were willing to wait for payment; he also took out a loan and maxed out his credit cards. Ludivico said he didn’t allow himself to quit, mainly because he didn’t want to renege on his debts, and he still needed to care for the birds left alive. Plus, “It was our livelihood, I had nothing to fall back on.”
Based on this experience, Ludovico believes his business will survive the coronavirus crisis.
“Every time something happens, you’re forced to be creative.”
To order, call 628-0603 or email jludovicofarm@gmail.com. Pick up is at the slaughterhouse, the former Shinsato Pig Farm, 47-510 Mapele Road, Kaneohe. Chickens are also sold at Kokua and Nijiya markets in Moiliili. For delivery, order through farmlinkhawaii.com. Info: jludovicofarm.com
