July 16, 2010

Stores in Fiji short on chicken supply

Two Suva supermarkets in Fiji are facing shortage of chicken from distributors since September last year.

Rajendra Prasad Foodtown Limited's Suva branch manager Aman Ram said Goodman Fielder International (Fiji) Limited had been their supplier for chicken since last year.

But Goodman Fielder has not been supplying the amount of ordered chickens by the supermarket. "Now they only supply 30% of the order that we given them every week, so, for example, if we order a hundred cartons, we are only supplied with 30 cartons," Ram said.

Ram also said there is a hike in demand for chicken because the price of lamb had increased. Shoppers are buying more chicken from the supermarket.

"Now, we are buying Rooster chicken to sell at the supermarket but this is still not enough in regards to the demand by the shoppers," he said.

He said they had not received a response from Goodman Fielder on why they could not meet the quota each week.

Another supermarket manager said they too, are facing the same problem and have not received any answers from Goodman Fielder on the short supply of chickens. The manager said they placed orders but have not received the amount they needed to satisfy consumer demand.