Chicken prices shoot up.

Byline: Aamir Shafaat Khan

KARACHI -- Retailers have raised the prices of chicken beyond the reach of many people as the live bird is selling at Rs230-240 per kg and meat at Rs350-400 per kg, showing an increase of Rs70-80 a kilo over the past few days.

Surprisingly, the official rate of live bird and its meat is Rs138 and Rs214 per kg but shopkeepers have neither displayed the price list, nor are they selling the bird at the control rate.

Poultry retailers are demanding Rs600 for boneless chicken as compared to Rs500 per kg.

Poultry traders say that prices usually crash on low demand and soar on high demand, but here they link the price hike to a short supply of birds from farms.

General secretary of the Sindh Poultry Wholesalers and Retailers Association Kamal Akhtar Siddiqui said in last week of March, poultry industry had warned consumers regarding price hike in coming months because farmers were not putting day-old chicks at their farms owing to massive decline in sale due to closure of wedding halls, restaurants, hotels, barbecues, etc, during the lockdown which was imposed in third week of March to control spread of coronavirus.

He said wholesale price of live bird had risen to Rs210 from Rs140 and meat to Rs367 from Rs245 per kg.

'Despite price hike, poultry is still cheaper when compared with veal meat prices of Rs600-700 per kg (with and without bones) and mutton at Rs1,200 per kg,' he said adding that even good quality fish was selling at Rs700 per kg.

The government had allowed online sale of food during limited hours slightly offsetting the negative impact of low chicken sale to some extent.

A number of people prefer to make chicken-related dishes at home rather than taking risk...