HANAMKONDA: Chicken shop owners across Telangana will shut their shops from Wednesday, a move that could trigger supply shortages. The decision follows growing unrest among traders over rising costs and shrinking profit margins.
Traders said live bird supply companies have reduced margins, prompting nearly 2.5 lakh traders to protest and demand a hike.
“Never in history have so many companies duped traders in a transparent business. Earlier, we got clear profits and margins directly. After corporate companies entered poultry farms, they captured profits and denied margins to traders,” Telangana Broiler Traders Association president A Ram Gopal Reddy told TNIE.
He said margins have dropped from Rs 20 per kg to Rs 9 per kg. “We are losing profits from ‘live bird’. Earlier, we received sufficient margins, but now companies are fixing prices and reducing our share,” he added.
Margins drop to Rs 9/kg
“With around 15 companies supplying live birds across the state, they decide the daily price fixation. We earlier earned Rs 20 per kg, but margins have now been cut to Rs 9 per kg, pushing us into losses. With prices rising to Rs 185 per kg, demand and bulk orders from hotels and restaurants dropped. We cannot sustain operations with such low margins and rising costs. After our shutdown call, prices fell to Rs 125 per kg. Despite this, the burden remains, forcing us to close shops from Wednesday,” Ram Gopal Reddy added.
“We cannot bear expenses with Rs 9 per kg margin. We are paying labour charges, salaries and rents. If margins are not restored to Rs 20 per kg, we cannot sustain our livelihood,” he said.