Chicken prices fall
Golam Rabbani, a buyer at Karwan Bazar, said the price reduction will give some respite to common consumers like him
The price of broiler chicken has started falling at the retail level in Bangladesh as four major poultry companies are now selling the meat for a maximum of Tk 195 per kilogramme (kg) directly from their farms.
The four companies, namely Kazi Farms Limited, CP Bangladesh, Aftab Bahumukhi Farms Limited, and Paragon Poultry and Hatchery Limited, sold broiler chicken at as much as Tk 192 per kilogram yesterday.
Broiler chicken yesterday sold for as much as Tk 225 per kg at Karwan Bazar, one of the biggest kitchen markets in Dhaka, while Sonali chicken cost about Tk 330 per kg.
Just a week ago, broiler chicken was being sold for up to Tk 300 per kg at the same market while Sonali chicken was priced at Tk 380 per kg.
Anwar Hossain Sujon, a retailer based in Karwan Bazar, said broiler chicken currently costs about Tk 190 per kg compared to Tk 230 a week ago at the Kaptan Bazar wholesale market, where most retailers source poultry meat.
"So, the price has come down at the retail level," he added.
Likewise, the wholesale price of Sonali chicken has come down to Tk 320 per kg from Tk 350 a week ago.
Golam Rabbani, a buyer at Karwan Bazar, said the price reduction will give some respite to common consumers like him.
"I bought 3 kgs of broiler chicken today thanks to the reduced price. I would not have bought more than 1 kg if the price had remained the same," he added.
Similarly, broiler chicken and Sonali chicken are selling for Tk 230 per kg and Tk 340 per kg respectively at the Duaripara kitchen market in Dhaka's Mirpur.
Retailers say the four big companies announced their decision to sell chicken at reduced prices following discussions with the Directorate of National Consumers Right Protection (DNCRP) last Thursday.
Since then, prices have started falling in Dhaka and beyond.
Mohammad Alauddin, a retailer based in the Boro Bazar area of Munshiganj city, said the prices started decreasing in his locality since Friday.
Saiful Islam, a retailer based in Chuadanga district town, said he sold broiler chicken for between Tk 250 and Tk 280 per kg yesterday but expects the price to drop further.
AHM Shafiquzzaman, director general of the DNCRP, said chicken prices have fallen as the four companies are selling chicken at reduced prices directly from their farms.
He believes the price would have come down further if the actual cost of production could have been found through independent research.
Quoting data from the Department of Livestock Services, industry people said the poultry industry meets 40 per cent of the total demand for meat in the country.