Chicken back on Kerala menu

Chicken delicacies and biriyani are making their way back to the menu in hotels and restaurants several days after the meat disappeared following the outbreak of avian flu. The price of chicken in most parts of the state at present is Rs 18-20 a kg.

According to traders, the meat sales have considerably improved compared to the last month.

Although customers are reluctant to eat any chicken-based food, a good number of restaurants and hotels have re-started various items of chicken, according to hoteliers here.

Jose Panikulam, owner of a Chinese restaurant in the city said there had been a 50 per cent drop in the sale of food items of chicken meat despite improvement in the sales recently.

"While families keep off chicken items, youngsters have no problem. Since it is the exam time in Kerala, families are not in a mood to take any risk."

He said this had made a positive impact on the sale of seafood items like crab, prawns and fish even though the cheapest non-vegetarian item is chicken.

C S Unni, a chicken trader in the city said sales had increased by more than 50 per cent over the last month and regular customers were back. High prices of other meat items have also caused a shift to chicken especially among lower middle-class families.

Falling chicken prices has pushed up the prices of beef at Rs 70, pork Rs 80 and mutton Rs 150 -160 a kg.

Sharp increase in the price of seafood items has become a real problem for Keralites as the state consumes around one lakh tonne annually.

The average price of different varieties of fish has increased to Rs 60 a kg except Indian sardine which is selling for Rs 10 -20 in the state. Even mackrel, which was very cheap in Kerala a few years back is now available at Rs 60 -70. The price of prawns too has touched the sky at Rs 150-350 depending on the size and variety.

A few months back, especially before the tsunami disaster in December 2004, the average price of fish in the market was Rs 30-35 a kg. Fish vendors said the increase in export demand had caused a paradigm shift in the market as almost all varieties of fish had a very good export market.

A major chunk of the low-cost fish is in good demand for making paste, which is very popular in countries like Japan. They said this had reduced availability of marine products in local markets and hence the high prices.

As a result of high cost of marine products and other meat items, a large number of customers are now buying 3-4 kg of chicken since it costs a maximum of Rs 80.

Reflecting the shifting choice of people, K PJohny, a salesman at a petrol station said that chicken was the cheapest food item now.

Another reason for chicken being preferred now is that people have realised that there is no possibility of bird flu affecting them when it is cooked in Kerala style. The liberal sprinkling of turmeric and other spices too would kill any harmful bacteria, he said.