Why I've Decided to Count on Pamora 100 % Free-Range Over Commercial Ones

Our family's love for chicken is divine and profound that we don’t usually tolerate anything that comes in the way of our greatest guilty pleasure. Haha!  That said, I've been meaning to change to a healthier lifestyle hence I joined Green Peace' #LessIsMore campaign and sure enough, I can gladly throw off pork and beef eating.   But with chicken, it's a whole lot different story.  Come to think of it, if you check my disorganized   RECIPE PAGE, the savory recipes are composed mostly of chicken as main ingredient.


My long time fascination with everything healthful and all that concerns chicken led me to know about free-range chicken.  I could still remember the first time I bought a free-range chicken at WOFEX and it was from Pamora Farms, on 2015.  Back then I didn't know where to buy outside the food expos, but when I found out they have been selling in Rustan's, I took it upon me to visit from time to time and buy my stocks.

Our oven-braised whole chicken have never been the same every celebration.  So when Nana Nadal invited me to an event celebrating their 18 years in the industry I didn't hesitate a bit to say YES.  An intimate group of restaurateurs, chefs, and members of the media mingled over late lunch The Peninsula Manila. We were treated to a spread of Pamora free-range chicken products prepared by the hotel’s Executive Chef, Franco Diaz.

The buffet included Pamora Chicken Paté Bites, Pamora Chicken Adobo (using thigh and leg choice cuts),  Pamora Sesame Chicken Salad (using breast choice cuts), Pamora Chicken and Waffles (using chicken oysters), Pamora Tandoori Chicken (using wing and lollipop choice cuts), Pamora Chicken Roulade (using whole chicken), and Chicken Sliders (using ready-made chicken burger). Some of the dishes served have been rotated in the menu of the different food and beverage outlets of the hotel.

Atsara

Chicken Sliders (using ready-made chicken burger)

Pamora Chicken Adobo (using thigh and leg choice cuts)

Pamora Chicken and Waffles (using chicken oysters)

Pamora Sesame Chicken Salad (using breast choice cuts)

 Pamora Tandoori Chicken (using wing and lollipop choice cuts)

Pamora Chicken Roulade (using whole chicken), when cut crosswise

 Pamora Chicken Roulade (using whole chicken)

“Over the past few years, The Peninsula Manila has partnered with Pamora Farms to create dishes in all of the hotel outlets, including signature dishes of The Lobby,” said Chef Franco.


Why buy Pamora Free-Range Chicken

After hearing about Tina Morados-Papillon's story of how she and her husband started Pamora and all the

innovations they needed to adapt to, I'm more than decided to have it in our regular menu. These are the

following reasons why you should also consider buying them instead of the regular commercial ones.

1.  While Philippine National Standards (PNS) for organic poultry requires only a minimum of 70 days for the chickens to grow, Pamora follows the French Label Rouge standards and grows their Premium chicken (1 to 1.850 kg) for a minimum of 81 days, sometimes up to 100.

2.. They do not inject hormones and other chemicals to rush the growing process. “We allow the body of the chicken to develop naturally so when you eat free-range chicken, you’ll notice that the bones are stronger and do not easily break,” pointed out Tina.

3. The birds are grown with feed intake designed for free-range chickens.

4.  To boost the immune system of the chickens, they use herbal concoctions from organic herbs and plants found in their farm in Barangay Garreta, Pidigan, Abra, such as oregano, ginger, chili, lemongrass, and kakawate. They also use charcoal powder. “These prevent them from getting sick, thus eliminating the need for synthetic veterinary medicines,” rationalized Tina.

5. Pamora chickens are brooded from day 1 to 21, depending on the weather or season, sometimes a week longer or a week shorter. Afterwards, the chickens are set free and allowed to follow their natural instincts. “We grow the chickens the way a chicken normally should, scratching the ground to find food, to access natural vitamins, minerals and other nutrients available in the grass, insects, and from the soil. They are left roaming in the open -  they run, they fight, they exercise,” described Tina. This results in chicken meat that is firm. Pamora free-range chickens have only 8 to 10% fat content versus 19 to 29% in commercial chicken. “And they’re also more flavorful because they eat more herbs and grass during the growing stages. You don’t need to use artificial flavorings like chicken cubes when cooking,” said Tina.

6. As a pioneer in the free-range poultry industry, Pamora has invested on production process standardization that complies with both local and international standards. Pamora is the only National Meat Inspection Services (NMIS) accredited “AA” Poultry Dressing Plant in the Cordillera region and the only dressing plant in the Philippines that caters exclusively to free-range chickens, using air-dry chilling process that is compliant with the EU standards on poultry dressing facilities.

Did you know that most of the chicken we eat have gone through the water chilling process where the chickens are soaked in iced-water with chlorine for 2 t 3 hours.  Pamore refused to do that. Air-dry chilling maintains the freshness, meat quality, and taste of the chicken, and no water is absorbed by the chicken. Meaning, what we get is 100% chicken meat.

7. There is no water added to the meat of our chicken. Pamora free-range chicken will not shrink during cooking because it is air-chilled therefore does not retain water.

8. The dressing plant is also complete with blast freezing equipment and cold storage. Pamora’s whole dressed chickens are vacuum-packed while the choice cuts are Individually Quick-Frozen (IQF). This way, you do not need to thaw the whole pack if you just need one or two pieces of the chicken parts. They are  packed in resealable bags - easy to open and close and store back in your freezer, the bags are reusable too.

Pamora Farm is a Filipino–European venture which started to raise free-range chicken in the year 2000, in just 1,000 square meters of land. Initially, the objective was for their families to have their our own source of organically grown chicken. Then other relatives and friends got wind of what they were doing and started ordering. This customer base grew to friends of friends, including foreign residents in Manila who had tasted the Pamora free-range chicken.

The name, Pamora was derived from the combination of their family names, PApillon and MORAdos.

For them chicken farming is not just a business, it’s a passion. They eat what they produce. So they make sure that their chickens are produced for quality before quantity.  Growing real free-range chickens, they don’t take short cuts

No hormones, no antibiotics, no chemicals. 

Another great thing about their  farm is that it's open, anyone can visit anytime. It's not far fetched why Tina had garnered many awards such as “Knight in Order with Merits in Agriculture” (Chevalier du l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole) by the French Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (Le Ministre de L'Agriculture et de La Peche) in 2008. This prestigious award was established in 1883, second only to the Legion of Honour within the French order of precedence. It is given to those with outstanding contributions to agriculture. It is rarely awarded to non-French nationals. Tina is also among those featured in Joey Concepcion's Go Negosyo book published in 2013, 50 Inspiring Stories of Agri-Entrepreneurs.

Pamora’s product line includes whole dressed chicken in different sizes (400-600 g Coquelet, 650-850 g Spring chicken, 1–1.850 kg Premium chicken, 2 kg up Capon,  1.8 kg up Poularde), choice cuts (breast,  legs, bone-in thighs, boneless thighs, wings, wing-lollipop, and chicken oyster), eggs, chicken burger, chicken nuggets, and chicken tocino.

Pamora also sells paté which are creations of Gérard Papillon using old fashion recipes from his grandmother Jeanne Papillon. The paté is available in six variants: Chicken Liver, Chicken Breast and Liver, Chicken Gizzard, Chicken Liver and Gizzard, Chicken Breast, Chicken Breast and Gizzard.

Pamora chicken is served at The Peninsula Manila Hotel, City Of Dreams, Novotel Manila, Element Boutique Hotel, Marriott Hotel, Makati Shangri-La Hotel, James & Daughters by Le Jardin (BGC), Sagana Restaurant (BGC), and Guidivilla Inc. (Alabang).

Check out my newest chicken recipes using Pamora Free-range chicken on the next article.

WHERE TO BUY PAMORA PRODUCTS:

Santis Delicatessen (Makati City/ Timog, Quezon City/ San Juan City/ Ortigas, Pasig City/ BGC-Taguig/ Alabang-Zapote/ Sta. Rosa, Laguna/ Silang, Cavite/ Twin Lakes, Batangas)

Terry’s Bistro and Gourmet Store (Pasong Tamo, Makati/ Salcedo Village, Makati/ Podium, Ortigas, Pasig City)

Echostore (Serendra, BGC, Taguig City / Salcedo Village, Makati/ Centris Walk, Quezon Ave., QC), Jojiberry (Mother Ignacia, QC)

Real Food (Molito, Alabang), L'Epicerie Gourmande (Festival Supermall)

Billie O' Naire Corp (Ayala Alabang Village)

Mother Earth Deli Basket (Baguio)

Rustan’s Supermarket (Makati, Greenbelt, Paseo de Roxas, Century, Alphaland, Uptown Mall BGC, Magallanes, P. Guevarra,  Shangri-La Mall, Katipunan, Corinthian Gardens, Gateway Mall, Tomas Morato,

The Grove

Evia Lifestyle Center, Ayala Alabang

Marketplace By Rustan’s (Power Plant Mall, BGC, San Antonio Plaza Arcade, Connecticut).

Or order online through gerald.ph and honestbee.ph. You can also visit their stall at the Ayala Alabang Village Saturday Market.

For more information, you may log on to www.pamorafarm.com, call (02) 257-6834 to 35/ (0917) 537-5639 / (0917) 591-7391  / (0918) 872-6672, email info@pamorafarm.com / pamorafarminc@gmail.com

Follow them on social media:
Facebook: @pamorafarminc
Instagram: @pamora.farms
Twitter: @pamorafarm