It’s easy to start a business processing raw meat into sweet pork or tocino and then

selling it for profit. You may consign your product with dealers, canteen operators,
caterers, and grocery stores.

Start-up capital is P6,000 to P7,000, and time to finish is 1 day.

Materials Needed:

You may buy your meat from the wet market, meat shop or supermarket, but make sure
you get it from someone who sells only fresh meat and observes proper hygiene and
sanitation. Buy early. If you’re buying meat from the wet market, make sure to do so
before 12 noon. Meat will start to smell and ferment by midday.

Materials Needed:

 Measuring spoon and cups

 Kitchen weighing scales
 Mixing bowls (preferably stainless steel)
 Spatula
 Funnel

Ingredients:

The loin part of the pig is perfect for making tocino. Start with 30 kilograms of meat
initially and buy mixing ingredients in small packs selling at P25 to P40.

Meat:

 1kg. Pork pigue or kasim, with or without skin. Boneless, sliced 1/4 inch thick

Extenders (optional):

 In 1/2 cup water add 1/4 cup textured vegetable protein (TVP)
 Hydrate for 3 minutes.
 Add 1 tbsp Isolate and 1/2 tsp Carageenan

Curing Ingredients:

 1 tbsp – Salt, refined

 1/2 tsp – Curing salt
  1 tsp – Phosphate, dissolve in 1/4 cup water
 1/4 tsp – Vitamin C powder

Seasonings:

 3/4 cup – Sugar, refined

 2 tbsp – Garlic, chopped finely
 2 tbsp – Anisado wine
 1/4 cup – Pineapple juice
 1/2 tsp – Vetsin (MSG)
 1 tsp – Food color dissolve in 1/2 cup of water
 1/2 tsp – Meat enhancer
 1 tsp – Paprika powder
 1/2 tbsp – Black pepper, ground

It’s up to you to decide whether or not to use artificial coloring and extenders like
textured vegetable protein, isolate, carageenan, and qualicel to increase your yield and
your margin.

Earmark about P2,000 for utensils and equipment, about P800 for a poly sealer and
enough money for polyehtylene plastic bags. (P0.35 each)

If you want a separate refrigerator or freezer for storing processed meat, be ready to
invest more money and observe a first in, first out policy.

Procedure

1. Some entrepreneurs prefer using lactic acid to wash the meat before processing
“to preserve its water-holding capacity and kill of bacteria,” says Lourdes Rivera,
a lecturer on meat processing at the Ultima Entrepinoy Forum Center in Quezon
City,  “Instead of washing with water, wipe the meat with cloth and rinse with
lactic acid.”
2. Chill the meat at 4° C at least an hour before processing.
3. Slice it before curing with “curing ingredients”.
4. Mix the extenders and seasoning and add them to the meat.
5. Cure the meat at room temperature or refrigerate it for 8-12 hours before packing
it in polyethylene bags (half a kilo for each bag).
6. Finally, store the meat in the freezer where it will keep up to 3 months.
Tips: Be patient. It may take you 3 months to recoup your initial investment. If you can’t
wait that long, the business may not be for you.

How Much Will You Make

Rivera says you’ll make as much as P37.15/kg of tocino if you mark it up by 30-50% of
your production cost.

Photo source: Dihay Flickr Photo Stream

Utensils
Measuring cup/spoon for solid and cup for liquid (plastic or stainless)
Spatula
Kitchen knife
Knife sharpener
Kitchen spoon
Ladle
Funnel (stainless)
Stainless bowl 32”
Tray, plastic or aluminum (rectangular)

Equipment:
Weighing scale for spices
Weighing scale for meat
11 cu. ft Refrigerator
Polysealer (for sealing of plastic bags)
Styrofoam cooler (for transport of meat products)

Raw Materials/Ingredients Packaging Material

Pork lean, ground coarsely 700 g.
Pork backfat, coarsely 300 g.

Ingredients (Curing Mix)

Refined salt ¾ tbsp.
Curing salt ½ tsp.
Phosphate (dissolved in ¼ cup water) 1 tsp.
Vitamin C powder ¼ tsp
Chilled water (to dissolve the 4 ingredients) ¼ cup

Extenders
In ½ cup water add:
¼ cup textured vegetable protein (TVP). Hydrate for 3 minutes.
½ tsp. Carageenan

Seasonings
Refined sugar
Anisado wine
Garlic powder
Black pepper, ground
Vinegar
Soy sauce
Vetsin (Optional)

Packaging Material
Natural hog casing (#23 –28)
Cellophane (6” x 12”) for
½ kg. Meat product

PROCEDURE

To make longganisa, the curing method is applied. This involves the application of salt, sugar,
nitrate, and other chemical preservatives that kill microorganisms or delay microbial action.
1. Select good quality meat.
2. Grind meat and fat coarsely.
3. Measure or weigh all the ingredients.
4. Add meat to the curing mix and mix thoroughly in a bowl, then add
extenders and mix again.
5. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until well blended.
6. Cure at room temperature for 8 to 10 hours or in refrigerator for
one day.
7. Stuff cleaned, fresh, natural, or collagen casing, using a funnel.
8. Prick stuffed casing with needle to remove air.
9. Link in desired length, usually 4 inches long.
10. Place longganisa in polyetheylene plastic bag in ¼ or ½ kg.
packages. Remove the trapped air inside the bag and seal
immediately.
11. Store in freezer.
12. Double the amount of ingredients for the 2 kls. of longganisa.