Poultry Sales Down by 50%; Chicken Producers Feeling the COVID-19 Hit!
Shifting to the agro-productive sector…while food producers are allowed to operate within the regulations, the poultry sector in Spanish Lookout is still feeling the hit of COVID-19 and they anticipate that it may worsen if things continue the way they are. Quality Poultry Products, one of the largest poultry producers, is reporting a drop of fifty percent in sales. Because of this, the hatcheries are also feeling the pinch with a massive surplus of chickens in their barns. Today, we spoke with Managing Director Raymond Barkman of the Quality Poultry Products and he explains the situation which he says will be felt in the processing plant in another two to three weeks.
Raymond Barkman, Managing Director, Quality Poultry Products
“When the pandemic came, all the barns were loaded with chickens because we were expecting a good tourism season and so forth. Obviously, we are not gonna kill all the chickens and so forth so we have to get through the big surplus at first and we have already decreased the orders at the hatchery because sales dropped fifty-percent. So, now what will happen is that farmers will spend many months without any chickens because we first have to get our supply down so the farmers, instead of raising, say like last year they raised like six bunch of chickens per year which means this year they might only raise three so the effects they are gonna feel is actually coming later than right now. I mean it will come in two weeks time. This thing takes a little bit to kick in – here we will stop being busy in three weeks from now when all the chicken has been processed in the barns and then it will slow down here. So, our problem here at the processing plant will be three weeks from now, not currently yet.”
Raymond Barkman
Andrea Polanco
“One of the concerns raised is the matter of storage, is that a concern for Quality right now?”
Raymond Barkman
“Yes, it is a concern. That is what we are trying to avoid and one of the reasons for the big promotion and so forth. So, we are trying to look for a way around it because that is a whole other complication to try to keep. As you know, chicken is not something you play with for a period of a year. You try to sell it and it is a fast moving perishable product and you have to take good care of it.”
In Thursday’s newscast, we’ll have more on COVID-19 and the impact on the Spanish Lookout productive sectors.
