Yerevan-Moscow, Moscow-Yerevan, Yerevan-Nor Kyanq: After long journeys in search of establishing her own business, Silvia Ayvazyan found herself in the Ararat region, in Nor Kyanq. There, she founded a new business—a quail farm—and soon became a successful entrepreneur.

“We started as a family business with my husband. We began with 45 quails, for which we had collected incubator eggs from different regions of Armenia. Since we had no prior experience, only a few chicks hatched from the eggs. Later, whenever we had losses, we all felt sad for each quail. My daughter even prepared separate hospital rooms for sick quails,” Silvia recalls with a smile, thinking back on the first steps of their business.

The idea behind establishing the quail farm was healthy nutrition. After analyzing the market, Silvia and her husband decided that by setting up a quail farm, they themselves would create the demand in the market.

“We studied the market and realized that there were no truly healthy options in the quail egg production sector. There were various quail eggs of unknown origin, but it was unclear whether the seller actually had a quail farm, was merely selling eggs, or where they were sourcing them from. The eggs might still be within their expiration date but not necessarily fresh. We understood that these were resellers, and we needed to enter the market with a high-quality product,” Silvia explains.

The name “Tesil” was formed by combining the initials of the couple’s names. Besides having a pleasant sound, it is also a beautiful Armenian word meaning “a new perspective.” “We thought it would symbolize a new perspective on agriculture. Apart from eggs, the quail farm also produces quail meat, which has a unique taste, is dietary, easy to digest, contains 0% cholesterol, and is rich in protein,” Silvia notes.

Through the UNDP “Sustainable Communities” programme’s “My Village” initiative, Silvia received a grant and built a separate quail farm for meat production. As part of the program, the beneficiary was provided with the necessary equipment for the production facility, vacuum packaging machines for food, cages for the birds, and stainless steel industrial furniture.

“Thanks to the UNDP “Sustainable Communities” programme, we received a grant in 2021. At that time, our company was just one year old. This support helped push our business forward significantly. It is crucial to assist businesses and producers in the early stages because, without the UNDP grant, we would not have been able to accomplish so much on our own. The support came at the right moment, as we needed people who would believe in us,” says Silvia.

To ensure high-quality production and position the brand as a “healthy” business in the market, the feed is produced directly at the quail farm in a separate production unit. This allows for full control over the feed’s composition, eliminating artificial additives. To oversee the quality of quail meat and comply with market demands and health regulations, they also built a dedicated slaughterhouse. The growing public interest in quail eggs and meat inspired Silvia’s business to develop new products. Today, apart from quail eggs and meat, the “Tesil” brand also produces smoked meats and canned goods, including pâté and thal (a traditional Armenian preserved meat, also known as ghavurma).

“In the beginning, when we only produced quail eggs, consumers didn’t know that they could also buy quail meat from our brand. But now, in addition to eggs and meat, we produce smoked quail meat, two types of eggs (regular and premium, which are larger), and quail meat-based canned products. Having our own slaughterhouse gave us the ability to manage and oversee the slaughtering process ourselves and provide fresh quail meat to supermarkets and restaurants with the proper certification, as required,” Silvia explains. She adds that their smoked products are prepared naturally: “We have a dedicated smoking chamber, where quail eggs are smoked using fruit tree branches, and quail meat is smoked with specially filtered German wood chips that do not contain heavy oils.”

For the next phase of business development, Silvia plans to open branded stores. The first store will be located in Nor Kyanq, adjacent to the production facility. This will allow customers to purchase products directly from the producer.