Frozen chicken may capture Kolkata market

KOLKATA: Even as the civic authorities are gearing up to have seized chicken samples tested at a Jadavpur University laboratory, wholesalers and retailers of chilled chicken are ready to capitalize on the scepticism about the quality of live birds sold in the neighbourhood markets with special offers to lure buyers.
But, despite their efforts to capture the chicken market, chilled chicken will come under civic scrutiny next week. The KMC health department will collect samples of frozen chicken from city’s malls and departmental stores and send those to JU for a similar test.



Metro Cash & Carry, a wholesale major that has been in business in Kolkata for 10 years and is one of the largest sellers of chilled chicken at 1.5 tonne a day, has slashed price from Rs 170-Rs 180 a kg to Rs 149 over the weekend to woo consumers to make the shift. “This is opportunist marketing. There is an opportunity to grow our customers and we are grabbing it. We are telling customers who otherwise go for live chicken to try out chilled chicken whose quality is assured,” a Metro Cash & Carry official said.

Spencer’s that has 30 stores retailing chilled chicken in the city including hypermarkets is also running promos that include sampling chicken fried in olive oil at select stores and an offer that packages chicken and onions at a discount. “We source chicken from one of the largest vendors of chilled chicken that has an integrated poultry facility where both chicks and feed are controlled. Farms where the chicken are reared are monitored. There is routine quality check as well as random tests,” said Kaushik Ganguly, regional manager (east) of Spencer’s Retail.

So strong is the preference for live chicken over chilled in Kolkata that Big Bazaar did not enter the market at all. “There is no point being a player in a fringe category. Unless perceptions change, there’s no point blocking shelf space,” said a company official.

On Saturday, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation announced a tie up with Jadavpur University for a chemical and microbiological test of the chicken samples collected from markets in the first phase of its drive against dead chicken. This apart, a decision to collect samples of frozen chicken from city’s malls and departmental stores for a similar test was also taken at a meeting between Atin Ghosh, member, mayor-in-council overseeing the KMC health department and the officials of anti-adulteration wing.

One has no way of determining whether a live chicken is healthy or sick, said a Metro Cash & Carry food technologist. “Neither is there any indication on whether the chicken has been administered excess antibiotics to accelerate growth. But in chilled chicken, there is assurance that protocols and processes are maintained. Samples are routinely tested for antibiotic residue. If they are beyond the limit permitted by FSSAI, the entire consignment is rejected and the supplier can be blacklisted,” a food technologist with Metro Cash & Carry said.

At an Armabagh Hatcheries retail store, the sales persons have gone on an overdrive to caution customers on the perils of consuming meat with strains of coagulated blood.