Bird flu threat bites into sale of chicken items in restaurants

Bhubaneswar: Be it the chicken biryani, kebabs and pakodas, or the simple breakfast of bread and omelette, the recent bird flu threat has destabilised the food habits of citizens. With the sale of chicken and eggs going down significantly, many have been forced to take a break from poultry products.
Poultry farmers, chicken traders, restaurant and fast-food stall owners expressed concern over the huge loss they have been incurring following the outbreak of bird flu in some areas.

“We have reduced the quantity of chicken and egg biryani by half of what we used to prepare daily for the last couple of weeks since the news of the outbreak spread. The demand for veg biryani has increased, but overall sale has gone down and we are making losses,” said Prakash, manager of a popular food chain.
Santosh, a 35-year-old fitness enthusiast whose diet plan has gone haywire since the bird flu threat, said, “Chicken and egg are an important part of my diet plan. But due to the bird flu threat, I don’t want to take any risk and am looking for other options for high protein food.”
Many restaurants have cut down on chicken and eggs and are focusing on mutton, seafood, crab and fish items. “Since people have become cautious about eating chicken, we have stopped serving broiler chicken. We are selling mutton, prawn, crab and fish items more. We are serving desi chicken (native breed) and chicken lovers are preferring this over broiler,” said Rajiv Swain, owner of a popular chain of restaurants.
“Chicken is affordable and pocket-friendly among all non-veg food items. Due to bird flu threat, focus has shifted to mutton, crab or prawn, but they are costly. The price of mutton curry is almost 2-3 times more than chicken,” said Bibhu Prasad Sahu, a foodie and entrepreneur.
The state capital consumes about 10,750 kg of chicken daily, according to the animal husbandry and animal services (AHVS) department. The per capita consumption of chicken per annum in Bhubaneswar is 3.5 kg while the per capita availability of chicken in the state per annum is 2.8 kg, an official source said.
Poultry farmers said the average age of selling a chicken is 38-40 days or if it weighs 2 kg. “With the drop in sales, large number of chickens are crossing this sale period and we are facing huge losses,” said a poultry farmer in Cuttack. With West Bengal govt banning import of chicken and poultry products from Odisha, poultry farmers in the state are in deep trouble.