Chicken Prices at Quality More Affordable to Families
Quality Chicken is one of the main suppliers of chicken to the tourism industry and the population. Now, that the industry is at a standstill and people are losing their jobs, the company says it is stepping up to assist its faithful customers. Their store on North Front Street and branches all over the country, have dropped the price of chicken to make it more affordable to families feeling the pinch. And to minimize risks to customers, Quality Chicken is practicing social distancing, allowing only a limited number of persons inside their stores. Those that are on the line outside are also encouraged to maintain a six feet distance from other customers. Today, we checked in to see how customers were faring off.
Duane Moody, Reporting
The COVID-19 pandemic is having an impact on all sectors; one of the first to have experienced the massive effect is the tourism industry, which is the lifeblood of thousands of persons. Businesses and hotels in the sector are closing down as travel bans have been instituted and employees sent home until further notice, crippling the economy. The stakeholders in the tourism industry are the biggest clients of Quality Poultry Products, which supplies to the entire country. But with no tourists, there’s no business coming in.
Andre Salgado, Belize City Branch Manager, Quality Poultry Products
“I know we have a lot of people who lost their jobs and the tourism industry is one of our biggest clienteles as well. So even in terms of that, we have had a decrease in sales.”
Andre Salgado
The company as a way to assist Belizeans during this time are selling its chickens at reduced prices, as low as one dollar and fifty cents per pound for small chickens. Chicken cuts and legs in bag are selling at two dollars and thirty-four cents, while in tray they are retailing at two dollars and forty-two cents per pound. This is available at all its stores and from its delivery trucks.
Andre Salgado
“Some of the managers had requested a sale to help in this time and so it went up to management, it went to the board and later on they approved. It is not a sale. At this point, the price that we are selling it for, we are just trying to help Belizean and we are just trying to help everyone out there. Since Saturday, there has been an increase in customers that come into the store and that is even before we even announced that we were having a sale. I guess just reference to panicking; people were doing some panic purchasing. The price we are selling it for is not a sale for us. It’s just us trying to help back all of our customers. As well the price is also being sold on the delivery trucks so it’s being sold to all grocery stores, supermarkets and everyone. We have asked them to partner along with us, we have asked them to reduce the price of their products; however, it is up to them at the end of the day whether they offer it or not.”
And to keeps its customers say while purchasing their products, they have put in place social distancing measures and sanitization posts before entering the stores.
Andre Salgado
“It was very alarming for us as a company knowing that there is a first case in Belize, however, we had already implemented measures at each of our branches to ensure that in the event that this had occurred that we were already prepared for something like this. From before the government even told us to do social distancing, made it legal, we were already doing it from Saturday. I had the tent set up; I had a specific area for the customers to stand and wait. So we were already practicing the entire process. As well Punta Gorda, they installed a wash station so that every customer that enters before they go into the store has to wash their hands, at least as a preventative measure for the COVID-19.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
