With Christmas around the corner, it is time for people to buy eggs, chicken and turkey. But in view of the recent outbreak of bird flu at the Central Poultry Development Organisation followed by culling of thousands of birds, there been no visible effect on the sale of poultry birds or its consumption in the city. In fact, most citizens are neither aware of the outbreak nor the consequences of the deadly avian influenza virus. City Express spoke to a few retail outlets in Bangalore.
Adversely affected by the outbreak, Arpita, a marketing executive from HyperCITY says “Our average sales of turkey increase by 20 per cent in December. During the last Christmas period, we sold 30 per cent more than 2010. Although we have experienced difficulties, our stock of turkey has been depleted by 70 per cent resulting in a hike in their prices.”
It is not all doom and gloom across the poultry industry. G B Sundararajan from Suguna Foods Limited explains that turkey is only consumed during the Christmas period. He says “Sales of poultry has been better this year. Our sales of poultry is shaped by demographics and not by factors like bird flu. The Indian poultry market primarily remains a live bird market and the consumption of chilled and frozen poultry product is just 5 per cent”.
On an average, city dwellers consume over 150 eggs a year while rural Indians only eat 15 eggs a year. Those who service the poultry industry also express confidence in the market. R. Pinto from Venky’s, a large provider of eggs, disinfectant, bird feed and other products that hatcheries purchase believes Christmas will be profitable.
Pinto emphasises “The government and the poultry industry have worked together to control the problem and the market is improving”. Companies like Venky’s have a different perspective on the bird flu outbreak compared to retailers. If some are experiencing problems that are not shared by other poultry retailers, it may be because they only operate in major cities. Those who are doing well are operating in both urban and rural markets. In fact, many city residents do not understand the risks of bird flu.
Noted environmentalist Yellappa Reddy said, “Once the bird is dead, the H5N1 virus dies. Cooking too kills the bacteria”. Dhiraj, an entrepreneur who is aware of bird flu says “It is very dangerous and I have stopped eating chicken altogether”. Karthik, a marketing consultant said, “Restaurants and shop owners need to take action and they need to understand where their birds are coming from”.