Financial Analysis on Smart Cricket Farm Investment

Abstract

This article aimed to study the smart cricket farm system in three sizes: 30, 60, and 90 boxes. It then compared these with a normal cricket farm system through four analytical results: 1) cost and benefit analysis, 2) financial analysis, 3) sensitivity analysis of smart farm investment in four scenarios (yield decreased to 30 kg per box, yield increased to 40 kg per box, feed price increased by 10%, sale price decreased by 10%), and 4) switching value test (SVT). The study cases were purposively selected, including 32 Innovative Company Limited as the smart farm and Hero Crickets Farm as the normal farm, both located in the Bangkok metropolitan area. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, and the financial analyses used four indicators: 1) Payback Period (PB), 2) Net Present Value (NPV), 3) Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and 4) Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) under a 6.125% discount rate. The results of the study found that: 1) The production cost for the smart farm (30 boxes) was 128.03 Baht/kg, while the normal farm's cost was 108.44 Baht/kg. Additionally, the production profit of the smart farm (30 boxes) was 44.97 Baht/kg, compared to 0.56 Baht/kg for the normal farm. 2) The financial analysis results showed that the smart farm had a payback period of 2.55 years, an NPV of 2,782,104.29 Baht, an IRR of 37.32%, and a BCR of 1.35, while the normal farm indicated a payback period of 4.09 years, an NPV of 149,297.41 Baht, an IRR of 20.59%, and a BCR of 1.04. 3) The sensitivity analysis results indicated that all four scenarios were feasible. 4) The switching value test for costs indicated that costs could increase by 44.19% while the investment remained feasible, whereas the switching test for revenue showed that revenue could decrease by 26.16% while the investment could still be considered feasible.