Dulce gatas is a sweet, milk-based concoction or dessert that can easily be processed at home.

Buffalo’s milk is a high-end commodity in itself. Owing to its richness, it can be processed into various products that command good price, thus profit. Beyond ready-to-drink buffalo’s milk, its solid milk products are demanded by high-value markets.

One of the bestselling processed milk products in Silay City, Negros Occidental, is dulce gatas – a sweet, milk-based concoction or dessert. Long before Mrs. Jelita D. Nivera met the PCC personnel at La Carlota Stock Farm (LCSF), she was making dulce gatas out of native carabao’s milk from the local farmers.  The volume of milk she was processing into dulce gatas averaged 67 gallons per month at that time. After meeting the PCC at LCSF team and given assurance of the availability of the needed buffalo’s milk, she was able to increase her production volume to an average of 158 gallons per month. This translates to an average of PhP133,668.00 gross income, or an average of PhP41,712.00 net income per month. Her main market is in Bacolod, Silay, and Tagaytay in Cavite.

However, the following step-by-step guide on how to make dulce gatas from buffalo’s milk is not available just anywhere, and is always one of the questions during carabao dairying and milk processing orientations.

Solution

Processing tools and materials:

1. Wooden ladle

2. Frying pan

3. Plastic wrapper

4. Measuring spoon/cups

5. Stove (can be charcoal-operated)

6. Tray Ingredients:

a. Carabao’s raw milk                       1 gallon

b. Refined sugar                               2½ cups

c. Glucose syrup                               2 cups

Procedure

1. Mix raw milk, refined sugar and glucose in a pan.

2. Cook at medium heat until the mixture boils with regular stirring.

3. Continue cooking with constant stirring over low heat until it turns brown with small globules and thick consistency.

4. Transfer into a clean tray. Cool (40°C to 50°C)

5. Wrap in colored plastic. Pack in a suitable container and seal. Mark with the expiration date (DP + 3 months). Store in a refrigerator (4°C to 10°C).

Results

A. Expenses for dulce gatas production per gallon of milk

B. Gross income or revenue per gallon of milk processed into dulce gatas

C. Return on Investment (ROI)

C.1. Total expenses for the production of dulce gatas out of 30 gallons of carabao’s 
milk:

Processing tools, ingredients and materials used:

C.2. Total Revenue to produce dulce gatas from 30 gallons of carabao’s milk: 
= Php25,380.

ROI =  Total Revenue - Total Expenses  x 100

                       Total Expenses

       = Php 25,380 – PhP 22,500 x 100

                        Php 22,500

                          = 12.8 %

Lessons Learned

A small farmer-entrepreneur is insured of having a net income of Php264 per gallon of milk that he processes into dulce gatas. Given that the farmer can process a gallon of carabao’s milk into dulce gatas in a day, or 30 gallons of milk in a month, he is expected to earn a gross income of PhP25,380.00, or a net income of Php2,880.00 per month with an ROI of 12.8 percent.

Home-based milk processing is more suitable for farmers who are interested to start up a small business.

Dulce gatas-making does not require any sophisticated instrument.