The Consumer Council of Fiji has lodged a complaint with the Department of Fair Trading and Consumer Affairs to investigate why there is a shortage of local chicken in all major supermarkets despite assurances from the local supplier, Goodman Fielder that the supply of chicken is normal.
This is after Council has been inundated with calls from consumers raising concerns on shortage of local chicken. Council’s regular market surveillance also revealed that there were not enough chicken in supermarket freezers.
The Council suspects there is something wrong in the supply chain of local chicken from the supplier to retailers. This trend is not uncommon, Council’s past experience reveals that whenever there is impending price changes with the possibility of increase in the price of the particular product, this product mysteriously becomes out of stock. It reappears on shelves on the day prices are set to increase. The Council believes that some unscrupulous traders want to maximise their profits with new price.
The Council would like this issue investigated and consumers told the truth on what actually is the problem regarding local chicken. Currently, the supermarkets and the supplier are just finger pointing and blaming each other for the shortage, while consumers are suffering. Consumers are being denied of a product (chicken) they want. In many cases consumers cannot opt for imported chickens because only a few supermarkets sell them. The Council has forwarded some of its market surveillance findings to Department of Fair Trading and Consumer Affairs.
There is also an assumption that the shortage has been created by consumers rushing in to buy in abundance because of the price hike. This is not true as the Council's officers have closely scrutinized shoppers in the supermarkets and there is no rush by consumers.
Meanwhile consumers should be vigilant and closely scrutinize the prices of imported chicken as we fear that some distributors will take advantage of the increase in the price of local chickens to lift prices of imported chickens. We have seen this happening in the past and would like to warn distributors that the Council is closely monitoring all prices and would report all unsubstantiated increases to the Prices and Incomes Board (PIB).
The Council’s market surveillance team is visiting all prominent supermarkets around the country daily to check on prices of basic food products including chicken.
The Council would like to request consumers to keep a record of chicken prices so that they can spot any substantial increase immediately which they can report to the Council or the relevant agencies.
Mr Narendra Padarath
Chairman