The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Rising chicken prices leave consumers dazed

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Sunday, Aug 03, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Rising chicken prices leave consumers dazed

People take to cost-cutting measures; seek government intervention to check prices

- Photo: NAGARA GOPAL

Getting dearer: This year in January, the price of one egg was between Re. 1 and Rs. 1.70. Now the prices hover between Rs. 2.25 and Rs. 2.50 per egg.

HYDERABAD: Customer predicament is perceptible at poultry retail outlets in twin cities. They neither can avoid consuming their favourite meal nor are they in a position to afford it regularly, which wasn’t the case till recently. A gnawing sentiment that things would go from bad to worse is also quite apparent among them.

“Poultry rates are fluctuating all the time. Six months back, broiler prices dropped to Rs. 40 and now they are Rs. 90 per kg. Kids love eggs and chicken and for their sake, we have to afford it twice a week. For that, we cut down our expenditure on other necessities like telephone bills,” informs Kamala Kumari, a housewife at Nacharam.

Indeed, cutting costs on necessities, which are, to a degree, ‘optional’ in daily living has become the only way out from the rising prices. “It hurts when rates go up and we are forced to compromise on other things. Earlier, we had two cable lines and one internet connection. Today, we only have one cable connection,” informs another housewife P. Sangeetha from Motinagar.

There is a ray of hope. According to marketing wing of National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC) export of eggs to Maharashtra will decrease a bit during Sravanam month. “Most of the eggs then would be diverted to domestic markets and this could reduce prices,” says a NECC official.

Consumption of eggs and broiler, according to NECC, is going steady and is expected to increase in the coming months. “At the moment consumption is hovering at 40 lakh eggs and 1.2 lakh birds per day. We are projecting an increase of sales to 45 lakh eggs per day in the coming months,” officials said.

Consumers, however, demand Government intervention to check prices. “These are all essential commodities and authorities should control the prices. These days we only consume chicken twice a week. A few months back it was a daily affair,” says Chaand Pasha, a watchman at Saroornagar.

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