Chickens sale drop in Mumbai

The outbreak of bird flu in the northern Maharashtra has affected sale of chickens in city, with traders and wholesalers saying customers were wary of buying chickens after news reports that strain of the deadly H5N1 virus was found in samples of birds.

Although there has been no drop in prices, sale has dropped. However, if this continues, then the prices will drop since the demand will be much less, said Sachin Mhatre, who owns a meat shop in Dadar in Central Mumbai.

Wholesalers from the Crawford Market said the wholesale price for chickens was currently Rs 50 per kg but was likely to see a drop in sales since people were scared of eating poultry products.

Although most of the fowls exported to Mumbai comes from neighbouring Pune, traders said the fear factor was more likely to affect the sale than actual facts.

It is a fact that cooked chicken and eggs cannot spread the virus, but people will not want to take any chances and therefore sales are bound to drop, said one wholesaler.

Branded products like Godrej and Venky's are still considered safe so people will go in for those. Also most of the big hotels and restaurants buy these products so sales of those will not be affected, Mhatre said.