Sale of poultry products dips amid bird flu scare in Bathinda

Sameer Singh
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, January 8

Amid bird flu scare, both sales and prices of poultry products, including eggs and chicken, have come down sharply.

After the bird flu outbreak has been reported in different states in the country, now people are scared to eat chicken products as sale of poultry wholesalers as well as retailers have registered a steep decline up to 40 per cent.

The poultry wholesalers rued that even as prices have come down, retailers curtailed their orders significantly as customers are apprehensive about eating chicken and eggs now.

Talking to The Tribune, Balwinder Singh, a poultry product wholesaler operating in Bathinda for past over three decades said, “Our daily sales of poultry products for chicken and eggs have declined up to 40 percent for past four days. While wholesale prices of chicken have decreased from Rs 190 to Rs 158 per kg basis and retail prices have come down from Rs 200 to Rs 160 now. Similarly, prices of eggs have come down from Rs 666 to Rs 580 per 100 eggs.”

“The prices and sales often come down during bird flu but following that when demand picks up again amid affected supply chain, prices again shoot up,” added Singh.

Another wholesaler in Mansa district said, “Early last year it was coronavirus that had kept buyers away from poultry products and now that the industry was picking-up, bird flu has come. Sales have declined sizeably and since it is just the initial phase of the flu, it is expected to decline further in the coming days.”

While customers are not buying meat, orders for chicken meat in restaurants, hotels and dhabas have also been hit.

Owner of Lucky Chicken Corner Bathinda-Goniana road, a food outlet that sells cooked poultry products, said, “People are really scared to eat chicken and there is approximately 60 per cent decline in our daily sales. Since, there is sharp decline in orders, our raw stock for previous days is piling-up and we fear if not cooked it would rot.”

Harmeet Singh, a city resident said, “During winter chicken meat sells like hotcakes but now they are scared. I am myself fond of chicken meat but due to bird flu scare, I avoid having it these days. Amid guidelines of WHO that if cooked well in the right temperature (kills the virus), there is no risk of catching the flu but who wants to take risk with their health or even life?”

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